Dreaded Deployment

Well, Chief left almost 1 week ago.  Our lives have been turned completely upside down, but we are doing pretty good!  The first day was so hard, and I cannot remember the last time that I had a bad day like that.  I came home and did what I do best when I am upset.....I cleaned house.  Yep, I don't eat, but I vacuum, mop, change sheets, do laundry, make beds, and clean toilets. 

 

Chief and I took the kids to school that morning, and he said his goodbyes to them before school.  I am so glad that we made the decision to not take them to watch Chief get on the bus.  I was a wreck, my friends were crying, other wives were crying, and of course soldiers were upset.  Monkey Doodle is so sensitive , and his heart hurts whenever someone else's heart hurts. Anything we can do to protect their little hearts, we are going to do!

I couldn't take my hands off of him and just wanted to hold his hand and hold on for dear life!  After many kisses, hugs, and goodbyes, I watched him leave on the bus for the air terminal after about 2 1/2 hours of waiting.   My heart was in pieces, and I was barely holding it together. 

Thank goodness that our amazing friends asked us over for dinner that night to take our minds off of it.  I know it helped me and the kids.  The next day was a whole new day, and we had a really good one!  I am trying to keep the kids in a routine with a lot of structure, and it is working.  They truly have been angels, but Monkey Doodle is taking it the hardest.  He didn't get to say goodnight to Chief on Thursday night, and he cried himself to sleep that night.  I snuggled him and tucked him in, but I couldn't do anything to mend his heart that night.  He told me that he got up and turned on his air conditioner so I could not hear him crying because he didn't want me to cry too.  Bless his little heart!  Miss Priss misses Daddy mostly at night too because he was 90% in charge of their nightly rituals.  

 

Chief made it to Camp Liberty in about 30 hours, and he got settled in to his chu "trailer" pretty quick.  Being a CW5 has some major perks, and he has his own bathroom, cable, WIFI, and doesn't have to share a room with anyone.  He is right on "Z" lake and can even go fishing!  It is amazing how much has changed over the last few years and how many more luxuries they have now.  The guys that he is replacing left him with a refrigerator, microwave, TV, a wing back chair, and he is even getting a full size bed soon! We also set him up with Magic Jack, and I can call his room whenever I want!  It is a U.S. phone number, and it is only $20 a year. 

 

I talked Chief in to blogging about his adventure in Iraq over the next year, so here is the link www.livingthechieflife.blogspot.com if you would like to follow his story.

It is beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

even if it is 80 degrees outside!  It is so hard to get in to the spirit with it being 80 degrees everyday and wearing slippers and shorts!  I am very envious of my friends that are experiencing cold weather and snow, but then they are envious of me because I live in paradise! 

The deployment is nearing way to fast, and Chief will be leaving us a few days after Turkey day.  It hit me like a ton of bricks this week, and I became completely overwhelmed.  I swear I have become his 3rd arm this week because I don't want to leave his side, but we are enjoying every second we can together.  It is so much harder this time because not only do I have to mend my broken heart, but I also have to mend Miss Priss and Monkey Doodle's hearts too.  At dinner this week, Monkey Doodle asked Chief is he was going to be gone a long time.  When Chief told him, "yes," Monkey got huge crocodile tears in his eyes and could barely finish his dinner.  My heart broke in to a million pieces!  Many tears have been shed by all of us this week, and we are having a our bad days and good days.

Today was a great day since we decorated for Christmas!  We wanted Chief to be able to enjoy the decorations and also decorate the tree as a family.  It was so much fun, and we made amazing memories tonight.  The kids really enjoyed decorating their trees that go in their room and also the main tree.  We did have a mishap while the kids were wrestling today, and Monkey Doodle ended up with 2 staples in his head.  This is the 2nd time he had to be sewn up in his short little life, and he never has shed a tear either.  The Dr. that did the staples today did not even give him any numbing medication and stapled straight in to his head without it!  Monkey Doodle has such a high pain tolerance and never even flinched.  He is such a tough 6 year old!

Well, here are the pictures of the inside Christmas decorations.  Hope you like them as much as we do!

"Honey Do" list

I have had Chief working on my LOOONNNNG "honey do" list that I started when we got home from vacation.  I want everything completed before he leaves in a few months.


1.  start a Topsy Turvy garden                         COMPLETED 3
2.  purchase a shed                                          COMPLETED
3.  redecorate living room                               COMPLETED
4.  hang curtains in all rooms                          COMPLETED
5.  purchase plants for lanai & front porch    COMPLETED
6. purchase pots for plants                              COMPLETED
7.  decorate lanai                                            ALMOST COMPLETED
8.  get lawn prettied up                                  WORK IN PROGRESS
9.  hang wall cross on house                          COMPLETED
10.  secure back gate                                      COMPLETED
11. re-pot plants from Chelsea                       COMPLETED
12. re-pot plants that we purchased               COMPLETED
13. clean out storage room                             COMPLETED YESTERDAY!
14.  purchase and put shed together                COMPLETED YESTERDAY!
15.  find bed frame for guest room                  COMPLETED YESTERDAY!
16.  decorate guest room                                  WORK IN PROGRESS
17.  purchase & install 2 small air conditioners WORK IN PROGRESS
18. Have gutters cleaned out and reattached      COMPLETED
19.  Have back fence painted                             COMPLETED
20.  Have closets treated for mold & repainted COMPLETED
21.  too much more to list                                   WORK IN PROGRESS


He has been a busy bee in the last couple of weeks, and we still have A LOT to do!!

What has been going on in my life....

I cannot believe it has been this long since I blogged.  Time has completely gotten away from me this past month, and we have had so much going on.  I think a list will be the best way to handle this.


1.  I have been planning our month long trip to Texas for Mookie's high school graduation and visiting family and friends. We couldn't decide if we were going to be adventurous and take a military flight to the mainland or purchase tickets to lock in our timeline.  We chose the latter because we didn't want to chance losing too many vacation days for Chief. 

2.  I have been in Georgia since April 24th.  I got an email on Thursday, the 22nd, that my Grandmother was in ICU and not doing well.  Ava and I ended up flying out on a military fuel tanker, KC135, on Saturday from Hawaii to Knoxville, TN.  Our cold/slightly uncomfortable but fun flight ended up being 10 1/2 hours instead of 8.  The plan was to rent a car and drive to Atlanta, GA that night to my dad's hotel.  We ended up renting a car and getting a hotel room due getting in very late and horrible storms with tornadoes.  We got up the next day and spent the next few days up at the hospital visiting with my Grandmother, my Dad, Uncle Duke, and my cousin Steve.  My 86 year old grandmother was very sick with her heart, diabetes, kidneys, and had a fracture in her back from a fall that left her in tremendous pain.  We really didn't think she was going to make it out of the hospital this time, but she is already out and back at the nursing home!  She still has a long recovery, but she is doing very well considering the circumstances.

3.  I also was able to spend time with my best friend and her 2 boys as well!  She lives 1 1/2 hours away at Ft Benning, and it was soooo nice to see them! I stayed with her and then drove back and forth to the hospital to sit with my Grandmother.  We spent a lot of time chatting, eating bad things, and watching the kids play.  Her husband deployed before Easter, so she has her hands full with a 2 year old and 9 month old.  I loved every minute of my time with them and hope we get to see them again soon.

4.  We found out that Chief is getting promoted to Chief Warrant Officer 5!!!  I am so proud of him because he has worked so hard to get to this moment.  This is the highest rank he can go, so it is a huge accomplishment.  We even have special parking now at the Commissary and PX, and that is always a good thing!

5.  He is also working on our next assignment, and it looks like we might be moving to Wiesbaden, Germany in Spring 2012. We are excited and anxious about the possible new adventure in our ever changing lives! 

6.  We also found out that Chief will be deploying again to Iraq in late 2010.  We will move to Texas while he is gone for the year, and so we are starting to prepare for that as well.  The logistics of all this is a nightmare when trying to plan for storage for our stuff, car shipping, packing, living arrangements in Texas, transferring schools. etc.  We are going to miss him so much, and I am just not same person when he is away from me.  It is hard to function with my other half not being there.  We will keep it together though and get through it!