situation back to normal

It has been such a long time since this family has dealt with TDYs and deployments that I had rather forgotten some of the details. Of course I knew that I would miss Jason while he was away. (Although a case could be made that I had forgotten just how much.) I also fully expected a refresher in the "TDY rule" which states that something terrifically horrible would happen the moment he got in the taxi to leave for the airport. (Surprisingly enough, that really didn't happen this time. I was expecting hospitalized sicknesses or a house fire.) And of course I knew the kids would go through a ticked-at-mom stage after he left. (Because I obviously want to send Jason away so I can operate in a 4 on 1 kid to parent ratio. Right!) Those are easy to remember. No-brainers, if you will.

A few things that had escaped my memory to one degree or another:

• Life without Jason just isn't as fun. The workload instantly doubles, leaving less time and energy for the fun things in life. Even things that are normally enjoyable become mere labor to just get done. Life rapidly becomes the equivalent of wash, rinse, repeat.
  
• Seeing the truck in the driveway every time I look out the window gives me that initial "he's home!" jolt -- even though I know he's not here. It's like he leaves 20 times a day instead of just that once. Also, I never realized how often I look out the window over the course of the day.
• I suddenly realized little things that I love about having him around. One example (and this might be a little weird) is the fact that I like how I can smell his soap when I first start the shower in the morning. I guess it's from remnants in the drain or something. I would never have realized that I enjoy that if I hadn't had to miss it. Heck, I never even consciously noticed it until he was gone.
  

As much as we had to get used to the part where he is gone though, we also forgot how you have to get used to the return. This last trip was only two weeks long. I wouldn't have thought that we would "get used" to him being away so quickly. Two weeks isn't all that long and it has been years since Jason has left for any amount of time at all. You know what, though? We did get used to it. Don't get me wrong. It still sucked that he was away. It's just that we weren't all sitting around moaning and moping that Jason/daddy wasn't here.

Some of it was probably that there was just so much going on. (Still is.) I started school, Sam had a band concert, I idiotically signed up for NaNoWriMo, we had the appointment for Izzy to prep for (which is code for: lots of cleaning); all on top of our normal, everyday schedule. We did all these things and more and in the end we were just living our lives, same as always.

There was even a little part that was easier. I hesitate to put that in here because he's going to read this and I don't want to hurt his feelings. (Hi, baby!) The simple truth is that his job here...well, it sucks. It does not allow for family time at all. His schedule is crap. He works long hours at unpredictable times and his hours change constantly. I'm not complaining here; I'm just stating a simple fact. We deal for the most part but it is difficult. I would be lying if I tried to say that it has not been a challenge to get back into working around Jason's work schedule.

Again though, it's the little things that really get you. I'm used to knowing exactly where the van keys are, exactly how much milk is in the fridge, the exact status of the laundry...things that I just knew because I was the only one here. Now that Jason is back (an occurrence for which I am so happy that there are no words to express my feelings!) I am constantly trying to figure out where something went or realizing that we are out of something or, well, I think you get the general idea.

But just in case...here's a question for you. Who was the last one to use the syrup? There's a good question. Did it get put away? Hmmm...my guesses are "Zander" and "no". What do you think?


To answer the two most obvious questions: no, the netbook wasn't there at the time and the syrup bottle was half-full before Z-man got a hold of it. Empty when he was done, of course! At least I have my partner in crime to help me clean up afterward. I love you, baby! We missed you so much!


(Just a little note: in no way am I comparing this little return to the actual phenomenon of redeployment. While I am sure that there are similarities in a very general sense, there is a degree of scale that makes them two separate issues altogether. I am very much aware of that!)