I have returned...

Well folks Oklahoma has been interesting. By far the most interesting is the changes in my hubby, he has slimmed down considerably, He looks fantastic, six pack and all, well, okay it is a 4 pack, but still, considering that he went to basic with a good amount of extra weight and now in comparison he is SKINNY!!! He has worked very hard and I am so very proud of him. (the little white specks are the never ending rain of Ft. Sill)

3/28 Flying in

The first flight was uneventful, nothing broken, nothing crazy. I did forget to eat before getting on the flight and so just as we are about to take off I realize just how VERY hungry I am, and the flight is a non-snack flight, meaning if I want anything to eat I have to pay through the nose for it…turned out that I only had to buy a $5 salad that was just enough to hold me over to my layover in Dallas. Once I got to Dallas, I went straight for my next gate and found the nearest eating place. I go up to the bar and ask for a veggie burger and a soda. The girl behind the bar then tells me that Kid Rock is standing over by the gate across the way. I look over and sure enough there he is, after some (very little) consideration I walked over and asked him for a picture and autograph both of which he happily gave. So now I have a picture with me and Kid Rock! And of course his autograph! Also, it turns out that he was going to be on my flight, he was headed for Altus Air Base to play for the airmen there. So there I was on a little twin turboprop with a famous person and it slowly dawns on me that this is eerily reminiscent of the Big Bopper, Buddy Holly and Richie Valens…cloudy night, stormyish, famous people on the plane, etc. As this is dawning on me, the flight is taking off so there is no turning back! Finally, we hear from the pilot (Captain Dan…not exactly confidence inspiring is it?) that we are going to be landing in 5 minutes…I breathe a small sigh of relief because it looks as if my fears were unfounded. So, 5 minutes pass, then 10, then 15 and we still have not landed. Captain Dan comes on the line and tells us that their main hydraulic pump has malfunctioned and they are taking steps to get the LANDING GEAR AND FLAPS down manually. There are several ex-military pilots on board, of course, and they start talking about what the pilots are having to do to fix the problem…it is a freaking hand pump! A few minutes go by and the steward comes through looking through the windows to make sure the landing gear is down and they eyeball the number of degrees the flaps have been tilted! Finally we start to land and one of the ex-pilots pipes up with, “oh yeah, aren’t the brakes hydraulic too?” At this point I am cursing fate and Kid Rock for being on the plane but with a little see-sawing we land safely (I am assuming the see-sawing was from the uneven application of manual braking). I am off the plane quickly…wouldn’t you be? And then off to my hotel to get some z’s before going to see my baby in the morning.

3/29 Family Day

The family day demonstration was rained out and all the soldiers were relieved because I guess the demonstration had them laying in the mud for 2 hours! We did get to see them in their ACU’s and hear a little of the accomplishments they achieved, such as live fire, night fire, mounted combat, and the huge tower that you have to rappel down…very scary to me. After the “demonstration” we were able to talk and hang out with them a bit, it was SO very good to see him, he was tired, achy and sore but he was my hubby and it felt so good to just hug and be with him. Next we went to the local NCO club and they had a luncheon for all the families and soldiers. It was the first time we got to see the soldiers in their class A’s and he also looked very good in those. Once the incredibly loooonnnnngggg luncheon was over the families walked and the soldiers marched (I got some good video of this) to their barracks and were able to sign them out on pass. Hubby and I had to go and first rent a car, but then we went and I showed him my hotel and…um…other stuff J . Then we went and met some of his fellow soldiers and their families for dinner at Red Lobster, yummy, hubby and I finally did what we should always do at RL and we ordered the appetizers and shared a plate of shrimp linguini. They shared lots of very funny stories about their time in basic and the things they did. Even though hubby says he is glad to leave, hated it and all that, you can tell he made some very good friends while there. One of the stories involved alien abduction btw…ask me later! I got some good pictures there at RL of him and the guys. Next we had to go to the PX so we could pick him up a couple of new suitcases for his trip to Ft. Sam Houston. After this we had to take him back to his barracks so he could sign back in off of pass.

3/30 Graduation

I got to the theatre where they were holding the graduation and they were selling some t-shirts for each platoon that had their names listed on the back, I bought one of them for me and one for S, then got one that says, “my daddy defends freedom in the U.S. Army” for R. I walked into the theatre and all the soldiers were seated in the front section in the middle, probably 25% were asleep, they were SO tired! I quickly spotted hubby, he was in the front row…and all the guys were unable to look around or smile at anyone they recognized (they were actually seated at attention…it looked very uncomfortable) I have pictures, of course. Once the ceremony began they made long speeches, most of which I have on tape, and congratulated the soldiers on their huge accomplishments. Then they started the actual graduation, where the soldiers crossed the stage and got little rolled up pieces of paper. Hubby being in the first row was significant in that he was named an Honor Graduate and was given a Certificate of Achievement and a letter in his file, this is a big thing because it meant that he was graduating in the top 10% of his class. For a guy of 33 with a bunch of 18 year olds that actually rocks! After the graduation he had some out-processing to do and then he was mine again… We ate dinner at a Korean Restaurant, he had been really wanting some Chinese/Korean food. We went to the mall, and walked and talked. Then we drove for a bit and talked and sang songs, then we went to the PX because I had to change my flight so I could drive him to the Oklahoma City airport and just leave from there on Saturday. Mostly we just enjoyed being with each other, holding hands and being close. At 8:45 it was time to return him to the drill sergeants L. After dropping him off I went to my hotel and shortly after I got a call from him saying that the DS on duty wasn’t going to let him ride with me to the airport the next day…ooohhhh I was angry, had I known that they were going to pull this BS I would have made my good bye a bit more significant. About 15 minutes later he calls again and tells me that things changed…again…and he could ride with me, woohoo!! Of course, I was not hanging my hat on it until I had him in the car with me.

3/31 Flying out

That night there was a fire in the Laundromat of my hotel and six or so fire trucks and some police cars come tearing in sirens blaring at 3:00am. The fire wasn’t enough for them to evacuate the hotel but the sirens woke me up and I could not get back to sleep. I had to be at the barracks to pick up my hubby at 6:00 anyway so I got moving on showering and whatnot. After I got my stuff in the rental car I drove over to pick him up. The drive to OKC was very nice, just me and him, holding hands, little kisses and music. His flight left 20 minutes before mine was supposed to and so I walked him to his gate, stood in line with him and kissed him good bye, and cried…a lot. The airlines had given all the soldiers a boost to 1st class but because hubby had been hanging with me he missed that chance…he said it was totally worth it…he would rather hang with me than fly first class any day…he is such a sweetie. My flight was TWO hours late and fortunately I had a 6 hour layover here at Houston so I did not miss my flight to Sacramento. Hubby kept calling me to make sure I was alright whenever he could, before take off, after landing or while he was changing planes…he knew I was really broken up about him and I going separate ways and he was just checking on me. I called him as I landed here in Houston and let him know I finally made it. My flight here from Houston has been changed from leaving at 6:35pm to leaving at 7:00pm (it is only 4:45 right now)…I really just want to get home before tomorrow rolls around…lol. As it stands I will not get in until 9:30 and probably later because everything is running late here in Houston because of the weather. The terminal I came into was so packed with people it was starting to need to have air circulated because it smelled of people funk. The one I am in right now is a little better as it is not so crowded and is much larger. After I land I still have to collect my bags, find my car and drive the 1 ½ hours home. Going to have to get some caffeine running in my veins for that drive! I am home now and posting this finally, two days later, but hey, what do you want from me...I was tired!! I finally got home at about 12:30pm and crawled into bed right away. Hubby and I have been talking back and forth since he left on his plane, and it looks like he will be able to keep his cell and any other electronics he has, for this reason we decided to go ahead and purchase a laptop with wireless internet ability so that he can email and blog now instead of waiting till he gets back. Hopefully this whole keeping of the electronics will actually happen!! He is doing good and is in good spirits. I picked up the boys on Sunday and was able to visit with my brother as well for the first time in about 2 years! It was a really nice visit and the boys had a blast at the ocean, I will soon have a picture of R at the beach covered from his eyes to his toes in sand and mud! anyway...on to the rest...

In conclusion:

I am incredibly grateful for the chance that I had to be with him and spend time with him, however, I am, of course, going to be greedy here. He was placed on leave (travel time) until the 2nd, but we were only able to fly out from OKC on Saturday the 31st. Why did they not book a flight for the 2nd or at least let us drive down or something that would have given me some more time with him. Ok, greed has been stated and now I do have to say that this trip would not have been possible if not for my wonderful friends Evan and Denise, my dad and of course I have to give Stan some credit because without the job I could not have afforded it at all.

Some interesting things happened at Ft Sill and also at the airport while with hubby. At Ft Sill people kept coming up to him and congratulating him on his graduation (they knew because of the PFC rank and the Class A’s he had to run around in) and at the airport people shook his hand and said, ‘thank you’ or were friendly in a way you did not see happening with people who were in regular clothes. I have heard stories of people being really nice or shaking hands or even applauding the soldiers they come in contact with but seeing it was rather moving. The bumping them up to 1st class was another example of this.

Well, you all know me, I can’t blog without getting a little schmaltzy, so here goes….

Being apart from him for 10 weeks and finally being able to see him and be with him again was an interesting experience for me, for all of our married lives I was the one going away or being shipped somewhere that he had to wait to join me. You learn things about your relationship by being apart. The most important of which is how strong that relationship really is. Another is just how much a part of your life that person has become. I quickly realized that he is my rock, my foundation and my very best friend, he is the person with whom I can talk about anything, who when I touch him I feel comforted and warm and happy and right. If there truly is such a thing as a soul mate he is mine. Coming back together is another of those things that can teach you something about your relationship, if you can continue where you left off, if you still have the same connection with that person, I believe that you can bet that your relationship can last through just about anything.

Anyway…that was my trip, in a nutshell