Doodlebugs and Monkeys: Countdown to "D" Day

Well, the word has finally come - not quite in the way we expected it, but it came. Fred got a call yesterday from his "boss" asking if he would be willing to deploy with the 30th Brigade. Of course, he said no..but the we started talking. Would it be better to say yes, and get it over with? Rather than wait for the next however long for the word to come down for his unit? To always have that over our heads when planning things? Not to mention, going as a Retention NCO is a tad bit safer than going as an MP. I know that's what he's trained for, I know he's good at it, but there comes a time when seeking the "safer" job isn't a bad, unethical thing to do...especially when that time includes a wife and 5 children at home. So, he's going...when we don't know exactly. The rumor is call-ups begin December 1...Ft. Bragg, Shelby or Stewart, some time in California before leaving for the year in the "box" as he calls it. Hopefully the time that he is gone will pass as quickly as we marvel the days are passing now..hopefully the kids will understand where he is and why he is there. I pray that he is safe and returns to us just as he leaves us..and I wish that everyone who reads this will do the same. So for now, we are focusing on making these next few months full of memories - trying to do all the things we've wanted to find the time for. I'll probably overdo it, but I don't want to look back at this time and think "we should have.."

We are off to Florida in October for his conference and a Family trip to WDW. I plan to pack it full of swimming, exploring and all the tourist stuff we can handle and afford. (I still plan on squeezing the trip to IKEA in! Hey, it's touristy if you don't have one where you live, right?) Hopefully in September we'll go apple picking and explore those museums we've had on our list. We'll try to spend more time together as a family and as a couple, enjoying the simple things in life - swinging on the playground, playing tag, seeing that movie at the theater instead of on DVD with the pause button readily available for more drinks of water, potty breaks, and monster checks. I encourage all of you to do the same. Enjoy the little moments, the silly moments..don't let your schedule or your fear at what others will think stop you from enjoying everything you can.

I have recently become a fan of another blog - it's on the right, titled 27 Hours - Matt, Liz, and Madeline - that has been an inspiration. Matt and Liz had a baby girl, Madeline after months of bedrest. Madeline was sent to the NICU and Liz to her room to rest. The next day, getting up to see her new, precious baby girl, Liz died - never holding her daughter, never kissing her sweet face. I cannot imagine as a mother what that would be like..to never know your daughter, for your daughter to never know you. The blog is about Matt's journey with his daughter as a single parent grieving the loss of his wife, his high school sweetheart, truely his soul mate. He is inspirational..and the biggest lesson I've learned? To be in the picture. It's not enough to be there on the sidelines in your children's life, you have to be in the picture. I have BOXES of photographs and Fred always says to me "How will they know you were there" because I hate to have my picture taken. I am striving to be "in the picture" from this moment on - we will have boxes of pictures from the next three months with all of us in them...all 7 of us, even if I have to rig the camera when there is no one else around to take it! :)

So, remember, enjoy the little things (the laundry can wait, the dishes will still be there), and be in the picture. For Madeline, for all the families that are seperated right now, for your own children...be in the picture.