In the last 2-3 months Mike and I have had endless conversations about what to do at the end of our lease here in October....there are many factors affecting this conversation.
-The awesome new houses on base won't be ready until Jan, Feb or maybe even March 1
-Mike is deploying in January for 6-9 months which would have me making the move by myself (or rather have me hiring movers as I am not really a load-the-truck kind of girl)
-We wonder if dad leaving and moving might be a lot of stress for our kiddies to handle. I know, kids are resilient (blah blah blah) however, my goal in life is not to push them to the edge of their emotional sanity. If at all possible I would like to keep them happy, stable, normal even. Well, as normal as can be when your dads in the navy.
-We really love this area. Even though the new house is only about 10 miles away it is in a new ward, new stake and whole other city. We love the libraries, people, ward, and all the things within a very close proximity of us here.
-We wonder about just finding a house close so we won't have to make too many changes on the kids and because we do love this area.
-Then, well we have the deployment thrown in and if I want to go and visit for a month or two while Mike's gone I would much rather leave all my stuff securely in a house on a military base than anywhere else. At least there I have security who will come and check on it once a week for me.
-Living on base will be GREAT for convenience- on base library, pools, movie theaters, parks and of course shops we need.
-We go back and forth back and forth back and forth about what to do....what to do...what to do...
I had decided to let the issue go for a couple of months, enjoy the summer, the pool, the free activities everywhere we turn, the farmers markets and the late afternoon thunder storms.
THEN,
Last night Mike came home from work at 9:30- I thought he wouldn't be home til 11 or so. He said his flight was cancelled because of some maintenance issue. He said he had tried to call me from the office but I didn't answer (sure enough missed calls on my phone- which was on vibrate). He said all this as he came in and turned my TV show off (Duggars). I thought is was funny to turn my show off.
He said "I have some news"
I said "okay....."
"I'm going to Africa next week for a month."
"Is this where you say 'just kidding it's really in a couple of months and it's only for a couple of weeks?"
"I wish."
"Wow, okay."
So, right when I decided to let the "stressful" decision go....Mike goes to Africa, for a month.
I guess we get a little practice for the 6-9 months coming up in January (except I don't really want practice)
If there is a silver lining in a month long work trip to Africa it includes:
-Mike will get his first certification (H2P which means helicopter 2nd pilot) which typically takes 9ish months to get.
-The kids and I will get to have a car every day! We have so many fun things to do! I love the summer months packed with activities everywhere you turn.
That's really all I could come up with though....and I tried HARD.
Aside from the very obvious fear I always carry the things stressing me out about this are
-I of course don't want to see the kids away from daddy for a month. I thought I had more time to mentally prepare myself to handle their stress
-He doesn't have much wiggle room for his return date- which I really hope doesn't get pushed any further than a month away because we have the most fun week planned starting August 1st in Ocean City, NJ. It would be such a crying shame to miss one minute of it.
-We are doing P90X together! We're having so much fun working out together and now we have 1 set of discs and 2 people who need them....what to do (Steve Henling-where are you??!)
All that said we're trying to roll with it. We did some rocking Kenpo together today (which is a mix between boxing and karate) and decided we better enjoy a night out this weekend together.
And, so since Mike will most likely leave before my birthday next week and he'll be deployed next year on my birthday do I get to be 28 for 2 more years? I really like 28.
8 comments:
I definitely think you get to stay 28 for 2 more years (however the stress of Mike being gone so much over the next year may attempt to do the opposite for you:).
What a difficult situation for you to be in. I'm glad that you have a lot of activities to keep you busy over the next month. Hopefully that will keep the kids occupied well enough that they won't really notice their daddy is gone?...Yeah...right!!) I wish I had some words of wisdom for you, but I don't so I'll just send big hugs and prayers your way. Good luck!
Yeah, I don't know what to say either. I guess this is just what it's going to be like and it stinks, but I'm glad you are trying to be positive. I'm pretty sure I would just be sulking somewhere if I were you. :) You are a much better person!
Wow...what a stressful situation! But, you are always so positive and so full of energy I know you'll do great. I, on the other hand, could never be a military wife! Good luck!
(Yeah, 28 was a good year...)
Dang, that sucks for you but how lucky is Mike?! I would love to go see Africa. Look on the bright side - him being gone for a month is like practice for the long deployment. You can always come live with us if you need to. And, I am talking to Steve about the DVDs.
My husband wasn't able to celebrate my Birthday with me last Feb. because of work aslo so I think I'm still 29 right?
Oh Brooke. I'm so sorry! That sounds really hard. I know it's stressful to have him gone, especially with kids. I guess that's one of the major downsides of the military. Good luck figuring out the whole living situation. Good idea to plan fun things while he's gone to keep you busy. I hope your birthday is great. Plan a bunch of fun things that day since you can't have your husband!
I do not envy you right now. It is so hard to have your husband away. I also don't envy you for trying to figure out where to live. I hate moving and it makes me anxious thinking about it. I hope you figure it out soon so that you don't have to have that weight on your shoulders while Mike is gone.
28 is a good age. Nathan missed Valentine's and will be out of town for our anniversary this year. Dumb.
You're amazing Brooke, I know you'll be able to do it. It'll be hard, but you'll discover that you're capable of far more than you knew.
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