Three deployments, three tags, three ranks.

#thingsyoufindwhenpreparingtoPCS #amateurhoarders

This is what it looks like when you’ve waited three years to start sorting and organizing bins in the basement and now you only have months left. In an hour we got rid of one bag of recyclables and two boxes of garage sale/donation stuff. Now we only need to get rid of about 35x more stuff. 🙂

 

Agnes and Camel reunited at last!

This should have been posted way back on February 1… The gnome that I bought from a Tivo friend (who pulled an epic prank on a friend and as a result had a few gnomes to sell) was finally reunited with the gnome that was sent to Tom in Afghanistan. 🙂

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When Owen saw them together he said “Is that mom and dad?” 🙂

It’s a good, good morning.

The plan was for me to go in to Owen’s room as usual and then have Tom come knock on the door. Tom was up super early (before 5) and once I knew he was up and moving around I was paranoid that Owen would hear/see him and ruin the surprise…so I got up and dragged Tom back into the bedroom while we watched Owen on the monitor. Owen dutifully waited until his nightlight turned green at 6:30 before turning his bedroom light on and I went in shortly after.

I thought he would have been much more excited…but it was still sweet. And then people (on Facebook) pointed out his wiggling feet and I guess that’s how he shows excitement. He also sounds a little choked up toward the end. (Facebook only got a snippet. This is the whole thing.)

The Facebook comments were great:

  • I like the wiggly feet…..
  • Awwww. This is priceless. I think he was very excited. His little feet!
  • The wiggly feet give it away!! So sweet!
  • Those feet!!!!!
  • Awww. Those feet! I totally cried. Both times.
  • The boy who emotes with his feet. What an awesome moment.
  • I love the little foot wiggle.

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Then first things first—he had to show daddy his Lego book!

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And then it was time to surprise Katie. She doesn’t seem to recognize him at first…but don’t worry, she was saying “Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!” the rest of the day and didn’t want him to leave her sight.

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And daddy even did the morning diaper change!

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Welcome home, Tom!

He wasn’t scheduled to land at MCAS (Marine Corps Air Station) Cherry Point until 6:30, at which point they had to unload and do admin stuff and only THEN get bussed an hour to Camp Lejeune. The official ETA was 10:15, so I planned to leave at 9. But it’s the military, so surprise!

The easiest way for me to do this is follow a direct timeline according to my texts and Facebook posts. 🙂

6:28 Owen tells me he wants daddy to pick him up from school tomorrow and “Mama, you can stay in the car.” He’s going to have such a big surprise in the morning!

6:44 Tom texted: Landed

6:44 I texted back: Woohoo

6:45 I posted to Facebook: The eagle has landed. (It was Liked by 72 people.)

8:01 Tom texted: On the move. (He sent a Glympse so I could follow his progress.)

8:19 Tom texted: I should be ready by 2130.

8:20 I texted back: 9:30?!? I need to leave earlier.

8:24 I texted my next door neighbor (who was coming to stay with the kids) asking if she could come over a bit earlier.

8:40 I pulled out of the driveway.

9:03 & 9:13 Following his progress—if I had left about 10 minutes earlier, I would have likely been following the bus on base:

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9:17 I posted this picture on Facebook: So close, yet not quite.

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9:21 Tom texted: At armory now.

9:21 I texted back: I’m watching. 🙂 (I could still see him walking around on Glympse.)

9:26 I posted this picture on Facebook: Bags are unloaded from a separate truck first, ahead of the guys.

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9:27 I posted this picture on Facebook: This is what the scene looks like.

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9:37 Tom texted: We are half way done. 15 minutes. Getting back on bus. Four guys left.

9:40 I posted to Facebook: I was so excited to get out of the house that I forgot it was freezing. I have no hat, gloves, or scarf. I’m frozen.

9:43 Tom posted to Facebook: M4, M9, and NVGs turned into armory. On bus to see Jen and do the Sea Bag Drag.

9:45 I posted this picture on Facebook: Waiting while freezing my fingers off.

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9:46 I posted this picture on Facebook: They’ve rearranged the bags three times now.

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9:54 A friend took these pictures of our reunion. Not quite as romantic a picture as you’d probably imagined. 🙂

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And of course our traditional selfie (we did them before they were a thing):

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9:59 After Tom found his bags, we took this selfie with the iPhone so we could post it on Facebook: He’s home! Better pics later! (It was Liked by 127 people.)

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10:04 A buddy of Tom’s helped haul all his gear to the car and then took this picture:

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10:48 Maggie welcomes daddy home:

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Daddy wanted to go on errands with us.

Tom texted me on Facebook to say good morning and I told him we were headed out on errands. He said he’d like to go with us, so I kept sending pictures. And FYI it’s harder than you’d think to take pictures while you’re shopping…while trying to keep an eye on one and keeping the phone away from the other who wants “Alno.” 🙂

Waiting for the hair place to open:

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Getting ready to get his hairs cut:

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Waiting for brother:

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At Walmart:

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A tempting display:

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“I want to push her!”

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Done!

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Showing daddy Owen’s big boy booster seat (he uses the regular seat belt now) and his new hair cut:

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Waving to daddy!

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Owen noticed what was wrong!

I can’t believe I’ve read this book 5-6 times and never saw it…but in my defense, it’s just a graphic and there’s technically nothing to read on it. And I’m usually reading fast so I don’t start crying.

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But then, after he noticed the 7 was missing…I noticed Wednesday was spelled wrong! TWO MISTAKES!

I contacted the company and they couldn’t believe in over 200 printings no one noticed! They thanked me and said they’d send a replacement book (which I declined, though maybe I should have accepted it so each kid could have one as a memento).

(Daddy’s Deployed is a completely customized children’s book for those with a parent deploying. The book features the name, gender, and physical attributes of, not only the child, but the parents as well!)

Owen’s Halloween Party

I walked into controlled bedlam. Or maybe it just felt that way to me, since I am unaccustomed to being in a room full of little kids. 🙂 It was actually quite calm—just noisy. I regret not taking a video so you could fully understand. 🙂

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Katie loves coming in (which she rarely gets to do because I leave her in the car while I run him in or pick him up). She gets into everything. I tried to keep her corralled with cheese and crackers today but it only lasted so long.

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Then daddy called so he could see the party.

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It didn’t last too long, though, since we couldn’t hear each other due to all the ambient noise. But what was funny is that the teacher saw me holding my phone up and was like “Oh, what do you have there?” I’m guessing she thought I was showing Owen something or taking a video. When I told her it was Owen’s daddy on Skype she was really surprised! And excited! So she got to meet Tom briefly today. (Again, it was loud so it wasn’t much more than “Hi! Nice to meet you!”)

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Holy crap! Owen is pretty good at hitting!

Papa wanted to surprise Owen with his own baseball bat so he got it the other day and planned to give it to him after school before his dentist appointment when we’d be at the playground.

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Then after a few quick attempts and after getting his grip and stance corrected, he was hitting most of my pitches! We were stunned. They weren’t perfect, of course, but I’d guess he was at least making some sort of contact on 80% of them…and probably good contact on 50% of those! He even smacked me with a ball a few times and had me ducking more than once as a ball whizzed by me.

While we were playing, Tom happened to Skype in, so he could watch Owen! It was awesome! Tom loved it!

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Owen’s deployment bear

This was a bear Tom got from the USO’s Comfort Crew for Military Kids deployment package. It had two matching dog tags included, so we’re sending one to Tom…

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We tried to give it to him before but he wasn’t interested. Until today when he saw the box sitting there and said “Oooh, what’s in the box?” 🙂

Pics from Afghanistan

These are from his trip over and the first week in Afghanistan. He didn’t have time to write info on each photo until recently (which I wanted before posting them) so that’s why they’re a little late.

At the military airport At Cherry Point. The snack bar closes at 6pm, but they have the troops show up at 7pm and wait for 4 hrs…WTF?

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Lobsters in the Airport at Bangor. Yes, fresh Lobsters. You can see the tank at the back left in picture.

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Giftshop area of Ramstein military annex.

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Ramstein computer area where they allow unit graffiti.

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Phone bank at Ramstein

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Manas International Airport is the main international airport in Kyrgyzstan located 25 kilometres north-northwest of the capital Bishkek.

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My (first) room! I now have a new room but don’t have pics yet!

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The door to my room.

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Angle 1

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Angle 2 – you can see where I sleep and sit to Skype.

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Extra bed and rifle.

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Our in-room A/C unit.

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The gym area outside my room.

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Stairs to the second level of rooms.

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The door to my room.

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The pathetically see-through TP.

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Halloween costume!

Owen picked out his Halloween costume at Costco today as a reward for being a good boy at the hospital. I had hoped he’d go for Iron Man (since we already have the real mask and arm band) but no, he wanted Robo Knight (one of the Power Rangers). He has never watched Power Rangers (as far as I know) and really only wanted it because it was called Robo Knight. 🙂

Of course, he had to put it on for daddy.

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And then of course I made him pose for me:

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Edited two hours later to add: He still hasn’t taken it off!

Home again, home again.

Almost as soon as we got home and walked through the door, Tom happened to Skype. Within 30 seconds, Owen told me he had to poop! WOOHOO! So all three of us went in the bathroom (yes, Tom came with us) and…OWEN POOPED! It was still all water but he did it all on his own!!! I was amazed, really.

As we were both praising him, he gets off the potty, points to his mouth, then points to the toilet. Huh? I didn’t think much of it because he has a recent habit of being silent while mouthing words and pointing. But then he leaned over and barfed. Again and again.

One one hand…WHAT?!?!

On the other…YAY!!! He finally realized what was coming and actually remembered that we told him to barf in the toilet!

So Tom got to watch him barf from halfway around the world! And I didn’t have anything to clean up!

Owen: Can you wipe my face?

I’m pretty sure it was just the pizza plus the milk he had when he got home. I guess I should have given him lighter fare for at least a day or so.

But, as usual, he seemed no worse for the wear!

Happy 12th Anniversary!

Happy 12th anniversary from halfway across the world, baby! It feels like just yesterday but also like we’ve been together our whole lives as I can’t imagine my life before you. I love you and miss you desperately!

Obligatory Flashback Wedding Photo

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And this year—after a respectable 11-year run—we FINALLY ended our accidental-turned-scheduled anniversary tradition of having Chinese for dinner. Damn marine corps not offering anything remotely Chinese in Afghanistan today. Hmph.

However.

We’re possibly starting a new tradition as Tom had steak and shrimp…so I figured instead of me just grabbing Chinese take out, I’d go and get steak and shrimp as well!

However.

I didn’t really want to get it take-out (who wants steak and shrimp to cool off on the 20-minute ride home?) but I honestly didn’t want to go by myself (well, with the kids)…so I sent an open invitation to my moms group…and one mom offered to come out with me (well, plus one of her kids). So…YAY for friends! And new traditions!

That said…WOW. I don’t think I’ll be taking the kids out by myself anytime soon. Or if I do, it will be to a FAST FOOD place or somewhere we can get much faster service.

Those of you with small kids will understand—you do everything QUICKLY. You order quickly (you quite possibly even order the kids meals first), you pay the check quickly, and you’re hopefully out of there before the squirming and whining begins. But unfortunately that was not how tonight played out. I fully blame the waitress, who constantly disappeared for loooong periods at every stage of the meal. Tom and I can usually get in and out in under 40 minutes. Ruth and I were there (at the same place) for just under ONE AND A HALF HOURS. Good god.

Ruth was a godsend, though. At one moment when it was a bit of a circus—everyone was noisy, there was too much crap on the tables and nowhere to put anything, Katie had reached for the knife three times in under a minute and was spilling corn all over the floor, Owen was asking for the third time where his milk was (damn slow waitress!), we were trying to share the onion appetizer…all while trying to place our food order—she volunteered to take the kids (my two and her one) for a brief walk so I could have a breather. And then she noticed Katie needed a diaper change so she did that, too.

/sigh

Of course, Owen didn’t follow along quickly enough and then Ruth was too far away for him to chase after so he stayed with me. Then announced he had to pee…so I had to take him back to the bathroom anyway. But then I left him with Ruth and went back to the table as they took a quick roundabout tour of the restaurant and I got to eat three bites of my salad in peace.

Overall it was a great meal—the steak and shrimp were REALLY good. It may have spoiled my usual order at that restaurant as well (I have ever only ordered one single thing every time we’ve gone there). The only thing that could have made it better? To have been able to calmly and slowly eat the yummy meal in peace and quiet—appreciating the food—instead of just shoving in a random bite here and there between managing two kids. Well, I guess that’s technically more than one thing. 🙂

I am so glad to have made a few new good mom friends who just UNDERSTAND and are willing to lend a hand—or supportive meal—when it’s needed.

And on that note… I mentioned that I’d probably order steak every time I went out because I wouldn’t be eating it at home because I don’t grill. And Ruth pipes up “I GRILL!” So I’ll provide the protein and the grill, she’ll provide the actual grilling, the kids can play in the pool…YAY!

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Making daddy dizzy

Tom Skyped in just now and I needed to hand the phone to Owen so I could get Katie more milk. Well, Owen doesn’t really understand that he needs to keep his face in front of the camera—he was just carrying Tom around the house. Tom kept telling him to stop because he was getting dizzy (all he could see was the walls and ceiling fan bobbing around). I finally came back and made Owen stand still.

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