Have you ever anticipated something so much that the hours seem to drag? Think back to Christmases from your childhood. There was just so much anticipation that you couldn't sleep; it seemed like morning would never come!
That's how it is with deployment reunions. You have dreamed of this day; it has loomed large on the horizon for weeks now. And finally, the day is here. And the hours draaagggggg….
I can hear it in your voice now: “Jennifer, are you really complaining about the day of your reunion?” And my answer is, “Yes, don't you know me by now?”
Seriously, folks, I'm flying on a plane right now, just hours away from seeing my husband, and the minutes are creeping by. Time has ceased to move up here at 30,000 feet. Really. I looked at the clock and hours should have passed and instead, it's only been 15 minutes since I last looked at the clock.
So, I'll continue to sip on my wine and complain. It's what I do best after all.
So whenever a spouse gets deployed, the one that is left behind has all kinds of plans. Trust me, I'm the queen of making plans. And as I told you before, I wasn't going to sit around and mope. So I made plans; I was off and running with any invitation that came my way: dinner, shopping, volunteering, etc. I was there.
Then there were the projects. I had BIG plans. I was going to paint the house, re-stain the bathroom cabinets, and cover the filing cabinet to make it pretty.
I didn't get to those plans. Everything looked so far away on the September/October side of Thanksgiving. But once December came, time sped up (until right now that is). I have no idea where it all went. It just flew. Before I knew it, it was time to pack and get out of here. And that's the last conscious thought I had.
In order to make it seem like I had accomplished something while my DH was away, I came up with a couple of smaller projects that really made a difference in the way the house looks and feels. I found stencils at Target and Michaels and bought some photo collage frames. I became the preeminent expert on hanging stencils. You should invite me over to put your stencils up. All you have to do is pay me in wine (and pay my airfare).
I also ordered curtains for the bedroom. However, they were custom ordered and didn't get in until Thursday. They take a special kind of patience that I don't possess. So they are waiting for Rei to get home. Not that he has that kind of patience either.
Have I rambled enough? Nope, only 30 minutes have passed. See what I mean??!! You probably think you have been reading my blog for hours.
Anyway, plans…
So the plans went out of the window, and I revamped what I was going to do. Then I made a new plan, one that seemed feasible in the face of a fast-moving clock. I would leave little things all over the house for Rei to find when he came home. I bought his favorite wine; I got chocolates and put them on his pillow. I made turkey soup from the Thanksgiving leftovers and froze it. I CLEANED!!!!! And I wrote love notes with dry erase markers on the mirror.
What was that? You are flabbergasted that I cleaned??!! Well, I did. I swept, mopped, and dusted. I made sure every dish was clean and put away. The laundry basket is empty and all the clean clothes are in drawers and closets where they belong. There are clean sheets in the bed. My DH is coming home to a beautifully clean house.
Now one thing I have neglected to tell you is that he gets home before I do. He will be home on the 30th and I get home on the first. So I won't be there to point out how awesome everything is and what a wonderful job I have done on making the house beautiful. So I hope it is obvious! I hope all the awesomeness jumps up and smacks Rei in the face! Then he will call me right away, with tears in his eyes, to tell me how much he loves what I did and how much he misses me all over again even though we have only been separated for two days! (Hopefully, reality lives up to my fantasy!)
Well, the captain just came on to tell us that we only have 648 miles to go. Lucky for you, I’m all complained out.
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