Day 275

Today was THE day and this is it - my last blog. Today I brought home Wade from the airport and we begin our life together again. As I left for the Dayton airport this is what the car looked like. Yesterday it was lightly drizzling, but overnight the temperature has dropped and it was lightly snowing. 
I left at about 9:30 and his plane was scheduled to arrive at 10:40. 

I debated about stopping at an ATM for some cash, but it would have been out of my way. And as it turned out his plane actually arrived at 10:20 and I might not have been at the airport when he walked through the gate. 

Here he is at the airport. We did actually have to wait for a while though. A lieutenant was supposed to meet him there and take possession of his firearm to take back to the base. We thought Wade would have to drive back to the base with this young man, but he was allowed to just turn over the gun and come home with me. 
Our first stop was at the car dealership to speak with our sales person, Natalie. We took the car for a little test drive and made an appointment for Friday morning to come in, sign paperwork, and drive off with our new Honda Civic. 
Wade was very tired and very hungry. So we decided to go to Red Lobster for a meal. My lunch was the jumbo shrimp cocktail and was so good. He ordered a steak with some sort of crab topping, mashed potatoes, asparagus, salad, and of course the Cheddar Bay biscuits. 

After so many months of eating sub-par food, he was in heaven with this meal. (Think of Bill Murray in "What About Bob?") He told the server that he had been in Iraq for the past nine months and this was so delicious. In a little while, the manager came by and asked him again how he was enjoying his meal. And he went on and on about how wonderful it was. 

Well, she gave us 3 five-dollar gift certificates as a way of telling him thank you. What a nice gesture, we were totally blown away by that. Not expecting it at all. 
After a quick shopping trip for a few things, we went home and settled in. The nice clean closet is now filled with luggage and other items that will be straightened up at a later time. 
Then we watched some TV and napped a little bit. 
Tonight we went to the Living Christmas Tree to watch the performance. I only had this one night to be in the audience because all the other nights I am upstairs doing childcare. It was a good performance. Now we're relaxing and thinking about what needs to be done tomorrow and on and on. 
But this is my last post...... And I have taken off the chain I've been wearing for the past 9 months that had Wade's dog tag and his wedding band. He's home safe and I'll be able to actually touch his arm, hold his hand, and kiss his punkin' head. 
Good night and sweet dreams. 

Day 274

It's been a Tuesday of waiting. When Wade travels it's very hard for him to find internet access or a decent computer. The last I heard was a quick couple of sentences from Ireland at about 10:00 this morning. He said he would be traveling in a couple of hours - so it's very possible that he's arrived or arriving in the US as I write this. 
This afternoon I did a little preparation for him. Now for the past 9 months I adopted the bathroom in the master bedroom for myself. I have added lotions, hair sprays, make up, soaps, conditioners, powders, hair styling appliances, and on and on.  

So my mission this afternoon was to remove traces of all things feminine in there because that's HIS bathroom. I think I did pretty good and got it all ready for him. Sorry, but I can't share what MY bathroom looks like now, all my goodies are stacked on the counter and when I get some time I will organize them into a workable arrangement. 
I also went through his closet after dinner tonight. Cleaned out some ridiculously old clothes, arranged and sorted. Tomorrow I will vacuum in his closet and the bedroom. I have no clue when he will arrive or when I will hear from him. Hopefully he will write later tonight. 
It's cold here and there is talk of freezing ice tonight. It was drizzling a little earlier. Wade has asked me to bring him a jacket, hat and gloves as he is arriving with none of those. And he told me that even fifty degree weather feels very cold to him right now. 

Day 273

It has been raining all day long - we've had all kinds of flood warnings. And the ditches and roads close to home have been flooded too. Wow!! It's not cold enough to snow, but cold enough to remind us it's almost wintertime. 

I've had a busy day. First an hour with Amanda this morning. We talked, painted, read, and discussed a report on France that she is preparing. Then to Hannah House to prepare November financial reports, pay bills and payroll. Then off to deposit a check for them. 
This afternoon I rested for a while until I left for handbell rehearsal. Our rehearsal went long and we'll probably have to add in an extra rehearsal because it seems we can't all get to the rehearsals on the same schedule and we need to be ready to play on the 18th and 25th. Now I'm home and thought I would write something before I forgot. 
Wade is on the move. The last I heard he is in Kuwait and waiting to get on a plane for home. There is no specific schedule, but he's thinking he'll be in Baltimore tomorrow sometime and arriving in Dayton sometime on Wednesday. 
He has a harder time finding internet service or a computer so I haven't heard anything since early this afternoon. Hopefully I'll hear something in the morning. 

Day 273

Confusion reigns right now. I woke up early this morning (like about 4:00) and realized I had not posted a blog last night. I have had so much activity and so many things to do, that it slipped my mind. By the time I was ready to sit and relax - I just went to bed and read. My apologies - I hope Tiffany was able to sleep anyway. 
So, Sunday morning I got to attend the Adult Sunday School class and to attend Adult church. That has not happened in a long, long time and I thoroughly enjoyed it. 
When I came home I had lunch with the family and we had:

Curried Chicken with Rice

"Gigantor" Artichokes

Biscuits or French Bread

Weight-Watcher-Worthy Chocolate Cream Pie

That was all nice and it was a good time together. Once that was over I had 4 hours to myself until I had to leave for the Living Christmas Tree again. I napped a little, watched a little tv, then I went and washed all the dishes. As soon as I sat down again, Tiffany called and we had a nice phone call until it was time for me to get ready to go. I fed the animals and I had some cottage cheese with fruit and jello. Some may not think that is very good, but I love it. 

So the Living Christmas tree went good and we had a great time with the children up in Kid's Town. There were 15 all together and 4 adults. Mr. Mike (Parks) entertained them for a while with a phone app called "Fat Booth" It was hilarious - you take a picture of someone's face, then through this app it will appear as if they gained 200 pounds more. SO funny with all the children getting to see themselves with their faces blown up. I put the app on my phone but I was just flat-out scary and will never show anyone that picture!!! 

I arrived home finally at about 9:00 and I relaxed with a bowl of popcorn and then headed off to bed. And that's where my memory lapsed until 4:00 this morning. 

Now as for Mr. Wide - he was enjoying his last day in Iraq and making sure all his preparations were done. He is heading home and just so excited about that. He has some people that are helping and working hard to expedite the process and we may get to see him in just a few days here. 

I'll report more about that tonight in my regular-timed blog. 

Day 272

Today was the first day for the Living Christmas Tree and my day was super-dee-dooper busy! 
During the morning I relaxed, watched a little tv, napped (I slept very little last night), and prepared for my day. 
Early afternoon I left for the church and help the 2nd through 4th graders prepare and rehearse their four songs they would be singing for the pre-entertainment before the Living Christmas Tree. I took Jared and Jaide with me. Jaide was playing chimes with her class in the lobby. When we were done with the songs, I went upstairs to watch/care for children of the singers and orchestra. I crawled around on the floor playing games, colored, drew, and spent time with everybody. We had 4 adults in the room. At 4:30 I raced home to feed animals and eat a quick dinner. Then I left again at 5:40 for the second performance. Same scenario - kids singing - and then staying with the children. However, they were a little more wound up tonight and we had to tell a few to calm down a little. But I was finally home by 9:00. 
Now I'm cooking these ginormous artichokes that I bought at Kroger which we will be enjoying tomorrow for our lunch meal. 
Pretty busy day and I'm glad it's over. Two shows down and five more to go. But I just think of it as earning some jewels for my crown. 

Day 271

Another quiet Friday at home. This morning I skyped with Wade for a little over an hour. Our conversation was a little different today as we are discussing plans about what he wants to do when he comes home. And he did say he wants me to fix him a 'real' breakfast. He hasn't had one since he left in September. There are no specific or definite plans about his travels, he'll arrive when he arrives - and we'll be happy to see him come home.

2012 Honda EX-L

We are in the process of ordering a new car and it should be here and ready to pick up when he comes home - which is good as he will need to sign for it. But we're excited about having a new car. This is kinda what it will look like. Not sure of the exact color, but most of them are some sort of metallic-ey color and all look alike. I'll probably lose it once a week in some shopping mall parking lot. 

Now allow me to be a proud mama, here. This gadget is Jason's school project for one of his classes. The wheel turns and a piston moves back and forth. He and a group of students worked together to fabricate and build this - 

but I am sure he was the main idea person - just because this is the type of work he does every day, all week long. He has been very dedicated to his education and he will receive his AA degree after only three more classes. This project here earned him an A in this class. Good job, Jason! It is now on my fireplace mantel.
Jaide and Jared had dinner with me tonight. We made pizza, watched the movie, "Happy Feet" and during the intermission we made some homemade cotton candy. It turned out good and we had a fun time. 

Day 270

It is definitely official - although I don't know when for sure, Wade will be coming home this month of December. Due to unforeseen circumstances, he will not be moving on to Afghanistan, but preparing to head home. 

This means I won't need to wear a t-shirt for the full year, it means I will have my friend at home with me for Christmas, it means that he will get to play with the snow-blower, the dogs, the new cat. It means lots of wonderful things and I look forward to welcoming him home. 
But for today, I am still recovering from this cold/whatever I have. I rested this morning. This afternoon I picked up Jared and we had McDonald's food for a snack, worked on homework,  read two chapters from "Little House on the Prairie", and played Jenga for about an hour. It was a great, fun time. 
Then I fixed myself and all my furry friends dinner and we're resting. 
Wade's travel plans are undecided or undetermined at this point. I'm not sure if we will skype tomorrow as usual or not. He's all packed and ready to leave as soon as he gets the word.