The End and A New Beginning

There is not enough room to talk about how proud I am of my husband and his 23 years of service in the Air Force.  His dedication to God, this country and to us is overwhelming.  He is the best husband and father we could ask for and I am so happy to have been able to share 17 of the last 23 years of service with him.  He finished his career on July 8, 2014 with a wonderful ceremony in front of family and friends.  (In a very hot hanger :))

Summer

I can't believe the last time I posted there was snow on the ground.  It has been very busy and hectic in this house of ours these last few months. So many changes. A house for sale, a husband retired, new job in the works, and a cross country move happening in just a few short weeks. My head has been spinning since January and it hasn't stopped yet. I have tried very hard to try to keep some normal things happening this summer just to keep some sanity. I planted a late garden this year.  I had not planned on one because of the house being on the market but the garden beds just looked so sad.  I grabbed a few tomato plants and rummaged through some old seeds I had and everything is doing pretty well. Well, except for the yellow pear tomatoes.  I don't know why I keep buying that variety because they never make it.  Oh well.
Ruby and I have our morning routine down this summer.  She and I are up way before anyone else in the house so we have plenty of time to survey the estate, water everything, and little game of doggie soccer.  She is a good morning companion.
We didn't sign the girls up for any camps this summer not knowing what our plans would be after the retirement but we have tried to throw in as many fun things as we can in between all the nuttiness. Jef's best friend Mike came to visit us for a few days so we hit the base pool for a few hours of fun.  The girls love it.  It has a great slide and a diving board. The big kids love it just as much.  The base pool has adult swim every hour.  It only lasts about 15 minutes but its nice if they want to swim laps or just hang with other adults and not have to worry about kids.  Yeah right, what really happens is the adults have free run of the pool to act like big kids.  Cannon balls off the diving board, no waiting for kids on the slide, and a little showing off for everyone with their fancy dives off the board.  Its quite funny actually.
I hope you are having a great summer!

Whole Again

The last couple of weeks have been wonderful. We are whole again with him home. Each one of us letting out our own sighs of contentment.  I think a collective sigh could be felt from both sides of the country when he stepped foot off the plane.  My parents and his own sighing in relief that he is safe and back where he should be.  We have been busy and lazy, silly and serious, quiet and talkative but most importantly...together.

We took a little trip to visit my in-laws at Holden Beach, NC.  We had a lot of fun and it was really nice to get away and just concentrate on each other making up for time lost.  Nothing relaxes your soul like parking your butt in a beach chair with toes digging in the sand watching the people you love the most running in the water, jumping in the waves and screaming in the delight and simpleness of it all.

We did all the typical beach activities including putt-putt golf, a trip to Broadway at the Beach (Myrtle Beach),swimming at the community pool, and fishing off the pier at night.  I got some much needed reading in and a lot of relaxing.

I sent him off to work this morning not really ready to let him go again but at least I know he will come home at the end of the day to us and that my friends is all I need.

Homecoming

Thursday was a very special day in the Presson household.  After a very short stay at school the girls and I loaded up the car and headed for Baltimore.  It was a long drive not just because of anticipation but because of construction and just congestion.  Finally we arrived and after much anticipation, anxiety, and waiting...

The doors finally opened... 

 and he FINALLY was back where he is supposed to be.

Oh how we missed him.  

Distance, Length, and Time

Sounds like a math post, right?  I promise you it's not. It's a long day, not enough caffeine, too much pollen inhaled kind of post. I spent yesterday running errands which can be a dangerous thing. Not because I'm a shopaholic but because it gives me time to sort through things in my head. Dangerous. Things that have been filed away for some time or feelings that I have suppressed just because I didn't want to deal with them at that time. Today I thought about 3 things: distance, length and time.

Distance.  The Google definition for distance is the amount of space between two things or people.  The distance for me is thousands of miles. Thousands of miles I have traveled, thousands of miles to get to my parents, and thousands of miles from my husband.  The last one is what I've been thinking of today.  He is thousands of miles from us right now.  Thousands of miles I will probably never see in my lifetime, thousands of miles he has traveled alone, and thousands of miles he will still have to make to get back to us.

Length. Google defines this in two ways but I pick this one: The measurement or extent of something from end to end.  Months is my chosen unit of length. I think it's about 30 months. I tried to count it all up in my head and this was as close as I could get. 30 months that we have been apart in the last 6 years. That's almost half the amount of time. That's a long time.  A really long time.

Time.  Defined by google as the indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present and future regarded as a whole. The indefinite continued progress, yep that's it. Time never stops and events keep happening  no matter who is around to see them. The worst of it is that you will never get that time back. Sure, there are pictures and memories to be shared but because of the distance and length, it is time not shared together.  I can recount all my memories to him but they are not a shared memory just as his travels, adventures and people he has met are not shared. This is something that no deployment briefing can prepare you for. It can bring about jealousy, anger, and resentment if you let it.

Our time is decreasing everyday. The months go by and soon the distance will not be so far between us. I look forward to those days with so much joy and happiness but for now I will file it away until that day when I can say "Welcome home."

Picture taken last year on Veteran's Day while he was deployed.

A Week of Birthday Fun

Confession:  I always say that my birthday is not a big deal but in fact I really do look forward to it.  Not for any profound reason its just that its MY day. I think Hannah summed it up really well in the car the other day.  We were discussing my birthday and and after the conversation was over Kaitlyn says:

"I love birthdays" and Hannah replies, "Yeah, cuz you get cake".  A girl after my own heart.  

This week was my birthday but also my husbands birthday.  His birthday was Sunday and I was so happy to see that his troops helped him celebrate with:

a nice birthday sign,

delicious (so I hear) Pancit noodles,

and of course a care package from home.

Wednesday was my birthday and while the morning was spent at a doctor's appointment and the evening at the girls' Girl Scout meeting, in between was a little celebrating with: 

birthday cupcakes with my favorite girls,

a wonderful visit from a friend that brought me a present and turtle cheesecake,

a wonderful surprise gift from my husband,

a delicious dinner of Garlic Citrus Roast Chicken and

these really yummy potatoes that my daughters go crazy for.

On Thursday the celebrating continued with a trip to the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival.  Head over to my friend's blog and read about our adventure.  We always have a great time and sometimes it is at the expense of other people's hard work.  To our defense we do appreciate the time and effort that is put into these quilts but sometimes you just have to say "Really!"

To wrap up my birthday week, today I was treated to a sushi lunch with 3 amazing ladies.  We had sushi and seaweed salad and laughed until it hurt.  It doesn't get much better than that.  

Until next birthday...

Thankful Day 7

Today I am thankful for my husband.

What I feel for this man is so overwhelming it's hard to put down into words.  He is my love, my best friend, my world.

Here are just a few reasons why I love him and am thankful for him everyday.

He loves me for me.

He loves our girls and is an amazing daddy.

He can always make me laugh, even when I don't want to.

He gave me two little girls.

He works hard everyday and is terrific at what he does.

He is the first one to support me in anything.

He has never met a stranger.

He is talented and smart.

He makes my everyday worth getting out of the bed.

Even though I tease him that he should have come with a disclaimer, (you know, will randomly break out in song with songs that get stuck in your head!) I can't imagine living a day without him.