Light

The light at the end of the tunnel.  I can see it.  I give myself permission to get just a little bit excited.  Just a bit of hope. 

We've been so busy lately.  I haven't even had time to reflect or write.  This last week was filled with visitors.  First, our neighbors went into the hospital to have their second baby.  We had the privilege of watching their 11-month-old daughter, and that kept all of us on our toes for two days. 

On Saturday, my brother, his girlfriend and their baby came to stay with us. 

They are in the area looking for apartments and/or condos since he just landed a job on this side of the mountains. 

Ahron got horribly sick with a nasty case of viral gastroenteritis.  It him "like a ton of bricks," as he described it.  He had to have an IV drip and nausea shots but he is now on the mend.  I know how much it sucks living in close quarters with so many people.  Those viruses are incredibly contagious. 

My son Miles also started preschool on Friday!  That was a big milestone and so far he seems to really enjoy it.  I'm looking forward to getting a break every Thursday and Friday.  My friend and I already have a bowling and breakfast meet up planned since both of us are kid-free on Thursday mornings. 

One of the things that's been bugging me lately is the time difference between my husband and I.  The distance alone is hard to deal with, add to that, it's his night and my day, and it makes for very long days.  We only get to email each other in passing.  As I wake up and get to respond to his email, he's on his way to bed. 

I can't even express how glad I will be when the ship starts heading home and time zones began to align a little better.  When our little boat on our count up wall gets to the last row of weeks, I'm going to be ecstatic. 

This past two weeks has been very difficult for my daughter.  She recently turned six and though it was a happy time for her,  she has also been extremely emotional.  For a couple days in a row, she was crying a lot for her Daddy, and breaking down over the most silly things.  It's painfully obvious to me that with the end of deployment coming sooner rather then later, she  feels changes coming that are out of her control.  Homecoming can be a confusing time, especially for children, and I don't think most people know that it can be both happy and scary/sad/confusing time.

We'll see how it goes, but most importantly, provide love and support to our two little sweeties, who endure so much and are probably impacted by deployment more than we know.  I also know they are incredibly strong and resilient, and they will come out okay through all of this.