A long Week ~ Then a Big Sigh

What a week Ive had. I have joined the thousands of Moms who ride the emotional roller-coaster, with constant ups and downs. Mostly Im up... but when Im down ... its aweful. Ive done alot of soul searching this week, finally coming to grips with the magnitude of the mission my Poohy has undertaken. Im so proud and so sad all at the same time.Coming home from the deployment ceremony was a long quiet ride.. upon returning home, there were many items left right where Poohy left them, and I fell apart. Old uniforms...civilian clothes... her perfume.. her toothpaste.. half eaten bags of goodies.. it seemed everywhere I looked there she was... I was powerless to move ANYTHING, as if by leaving it where it was, I could hold her here awhile longer. I found myself just walking around touching these things and they brought me comfort.Then I got really deep into my thoughts, of other families going thru this same thing... of the families who have been doing this for a lot longer than I have. I owe you all a heartfelt apology! I have always had the Soldiers in my heart, and have faithfully prayed for their missions to be successful, for them to remain safe and out of harms way and to have speedy return home. But I truely never gave much thought to the endless numbers of family, that belonged to those soldiers. Nor the heavy hearts and minds, they have carried day after day, for a very long time. The questions to which they had no answers, to the long pauses in communication with their loved ones, to those who prayed and waited, only to have their soldier returned to them maimed, injured or perhaps not returned at all. I am truely ashamed that I never thought of them, these wonderful families, just like yours and mine..I guess now that I am one... it clicked on the light bulb! The support out there is tremendous! Families do not have to go it alone. There are wonderful groups all supporting each other.. that it touches me deeply! We are after all one family, each dealing in our own way, and hopefully helping others when they need us. We all need a shoulder sometimes. Ill be glad to listen to you when your sad... and cry with you. If ya wanna rant and rave , Ill listen... for tomorrow I may need you! We are fighting our way thru this, just like our soldiers are... and there aint noooo book gonna teach us how to get thru it... all we can do is our best, so that our soldiers are as proud of us as we are of them!
So after this roller coaster week Ive been on... a small light shined brightly, to relieve me of my emotions for a moment. Ive heard from Poohy! She reached her initial destination safely, (Thank-You God !) Ive survived the first hurdle, for today my baby girl is safe and my heart is glad. Ill be forever grateful, for each tiny moment of Joy I recieve during this hard and trying time. Punkin is a God-Send to me. She's pure delight, and is dealing with Mommy being gone,as well as she can , considering her tender age of 2. She and the Good Lord keep me going.

Unit Ceremony

We made it to the Units deployment ceremony.. I feared the new snow would keep us home,being we live out in the boonies... but the heavens were on our side, they must have known it was a MUST for us to be there. This was to be the last day we would see Poohy, for a long, long time, and I believe I would have crawled there if need be.The Camp Commander gave a nice speech, flanked by other officers. The Chaplain, blessed us with a prayer. I was so proud watching all of our soldiers standing there being commended on their successful training, and getting chills to trembling shouts of "Hooah !" in unison, by our troops. There's no other sound that can relay that kind confidence !! It was a day full of pride, but also of heavy hearts. So thankful for another chance to see my soldier... and all the soldiers who have become family over the years.

A Wonderful 4 Days!

Well Poohy finally made it home on a 4 day pass.. what a whirlwind time it was too! Punkin was soooooo excited when she finally saw her Mommie.. its been almost 4 months in comming, which is forever to a little one! It was so awesome... her brother Taylor, was also home on spring break from college. It was the first time in a long time that all my children were home, under my roof... probably the best sleep Ive had in ages, as I knew exactly where all my kids were! Right off the bat she wanted to go shopping.. one of her MOST favorite things! She went wild !!! She totally outfitted Punkin with all new outside toys for summer.. from a swingset, sandbox, playhouse and bike... to all new clothing for the warm season.We also went for family portraits, they are awesome, and I will post them when I get them home! We spent all the next day assembling everything, with much laughter & craziness. She sent me in to have nails and a pedicure... something Ive never had done by a professional... and I gotta say it was heavenly... I could really get used to that special treatment...lol. We had a cook-out.. 1st one of the year, and all the family attended and brought some really scrumptious food! Her last day home was quiet, spent lazing around with Punkin. We knew leaving would be hard, I took her back to post late in the evening, it was by far the hardest thing Ive ever done. A deployment ceremony, for the 1008th QM Co. was set for the following day , so I knew we would see her again one more time before the Unit departed for the sandbox.... A heavy snow was expected for late night/early morning, and I feared we would not make it, being we live out in the boonies... but we did make it out, thru 6 inches of snow...No snow all winter and Mother Nature had to pick this day to dump on us!

Yippeeeeeeeee

Well.... Ive been busy the past few days, and have gotten behind in my posting! We have been getting the house cleaned up, with the rituals of spring cleaning. But for great reasons!! Poohy has finally gotten caught up to date with her training. She has worked double time to catch up with her unit, and has succeeded !!! She had a bone scan on her knee, and it came back good. Her knee is healing well, and hasnt been causing her much pain... Im so thankful its healing well. Kudos to you babygirl, your tougher than you ever knew !!! Im so excited as Poohy will be getting pass for a few days leave, to come home. I cant wait to see her, and I know Punkin will blow a gasket when she finally gets to see her Mommy. She so excited!! Ive been busy stocking up on all the foods she loves, and will not get to have for a long time to come. Isnt that just like a Mom? Smother em with food...LOL. Im going to breathe in every second shes home, for it will be a long time before we will see her again... but Im not gonna think about that now... Im just going to concentrate on this being a perfect few days, with lots of hugs and good times!

What WONT We Do For Our Kids! LOL

It's been quite a crazy few days around here! This has been hard not being able to talk to Poohy much, with all the extensive training going on. Just getting us prepared for the long stretches of no phone calls to come Im sure....Im on pins and needles hoping she'll get a few days pass before she leaves country. To pass the time I even cleaned out her car... (someone musta bumped me on the head...lol) I have decided, she could have gotten stranded for a week and truely survived in that car!!! She wouldnt have gone thirsty with all the half opened pop bottles... nor hungry, with all the have opened bags of junk food... and now I know where all the missing socks go when they get lost in the washer... they end up in Poohy's car...LMAO!!! Now when she says she cant find anything, Ill always tell her to check the back seat of her car. She so famous for tossing everything back there. This is the 1st time I think Ive ever seen the floors in the backseat, since the day she bought it! I even took Armour All to the whole inside... WOW looks like new again, Wont she be surprised! I even drove it to town and washed and vacuumed it out. Its really a riot to watch kids in town drive up next to me...(as I have her amp and speaker box cranked up... no darlin I havent blown your speakers...... yet!) And when they look over to where the car is thumping to the tunes of Outkast... they see this old broad drivin... cracks em up I tell ya...lol.
I think Spring is finally on the way, it was beautiful today! Papaw took Punkin out for a ride thru the woods on the 3 wheeler,(mind you he crawled at a snails pace in 1st gear, under the hawk eye of Mamaw!) and learned this is gonna be her favorite thing to do this summer. He about never got her off of it! Country girl in the making!!