Me vs Them: Life When My Military Man is Away

My husband is in the military and I am proud of that. He works hard and serves his country proudly. Go America wooo. But there are many sacrifices made, one that hits home very often is TDYs and Deployments. I hate them; well, actually, I have a love/hate for them.

I love feeling the feeling of independence. Though I am not working or in school yet, I have a huge responsibility with the children and household and while he's gone most if not all of this is in my hands. So knowing that I accomplished something with the children, or fixed a leak or my own, or got the landlord to finally fix something on my own is very satisfying.

I hate the feeling of loneliness. Talking to children 4 and under all day everyday can be and is entertaining, but will make ya go stir crazy after a while. I do have a good friend here, but she's a single mother of 4, so while we try to see each other often, it's a hard task. But when my husband deployed before, I had absolutely no one. I felt so lonely as I had a 2 year-old and a newborn at the time. I talked to every single person I could. You bump into me by accident while walking down the street, you knew my life story by the time we hit the end of the block. The difference between now and then is that I know so many more people thanks to an expat site, so the loneliness this time around isn't so severe. And of course I miss the sex. Oh, man.

Well, Mr. Military is away again. Only for a week, but of course a week can turn into months. This has happened before!!

So I went in today feeling OK, but worried. I hadn't made any lists, and lists is a parents friend, especially in these situations. I planned in my head instead of writing it all down, and of course with children, things are always unpredictable! So everything I planned was an hour behind schedule. The kids really tried my patience, but it wasn't their fault. I should have planned a lot better, and hey through it all, the day went well and I accomplished all the day's goals. I also had time to make these awesome peanut butter cookies. Family fave and is usually gone within 20 minutes! Today I was a bit strict, though. They're hyper enough without added sugar


I also set some long-term goals for this week which I believe will prepare me for when I start school again hopefully this Autumn.

•  I plan to cook dinner every single day. Sometimes with TDYs, I tend to get a bit lazy and order out or go with something frozen or convenient.Though the last deployment I cooked dinner, but we did eat out for lunch. My kids said they prefer my food and they even dubbed me McMommy's so I will cook for them. Plus I will cook then healthy meals that will keep them full and happy.
• They will go to bed and be asleep by 9. Sounds easy, but my kids have way too much energy and will fight sleep to the death!  My ultimate goal is 8:30. 
• I will read a chapter from one the books I purchased from Amazon every night. Was recommended some nice books and barely cracked the pages. I did read Scott Kelby's photography book and learned so much! But I still have a chapter to go and I've had the books for over a month. Time to get crackin!
• Blog my progress every night. Even if it's a few lines!
• Make lists lists lists!

Tonight I cooked my daughter's favorite menu which is pork, potatoes and green veg. Tonight I went Roasted Pork Tenderloins with a Maple-Mustard Sauce, Butter Boiled Potatoes and Sauteed Broccoli.

 They loved it, and tomorrow I am going with my son's favorite foods.

Well hope this wasn't too long. The upcoming posts will not be anywhere as near long :)