Surprise!


What a week. It's been a roller coaster ride, quite literally. The week started off with some Key Spouse work. We had a meeting to go over our current and upcoming activities. Somehow I resisted the amazing caramel brownies one spouse baked. We also talked about plans for the deployment homecoming, which means we're on the downslope. I had a sushi date with another Key Spouse the next day at my new favorite sushi spot, The Slippery Mermaid.

My job search continues with no real leads. I'm applying for jobs I don't really want, but I have to find something soon since my unemployment is running out. Once it does, I'm going to drive for Uber while I keep looking. Just what I always wanted to do with my PhD! I spent some time this week doing our taxes too. What a pain.

Thursday I traveled to my mom's for my grandfather's celebration of life on Saturday. I'm really glad I was able to be there. A large group of his friends from the condo community came out. We ended up staying up drinking and telling stories until after 9pm (the celebration started at 5). We had Pop's favorite cake (coconut cream) and reminisced.



The biggest news of the week is that Bryan was home. I know, you're all thinking "WHAT???". I had to keep it mostly secret. He was here on official business but we were extremely lucky to have a few days together. He arrived in Baltimore very late Tuesday night. He was able to see a few family members before he flew to FL on Wednesday. Since my grandfather's celebration of life was this weekend, his command allowed him to stay until Sunday so he could attend.

It was definitely amazing, but also bittersweet. Wednesday we just hung out at home, ordered Chinese and watched a scary movie. Thursday we headed to my mom's. Since I was already planning to take a day trip to Disney, I was able to take Bryan on Friday. Since we weren't together on our anniversary and won't be together on Valentine's Day, we treated this as our mini celebration.

We spent the day at Animal Kingdom. The weather was great! Perfect for jeans and a t-shirt, and chilly enough in the shade for a sweatshirt. We did a few rides, saw the animals (minus the baby hippo which was my whole motivation for going there!) and had a few drinks. We stayed at Caribbean Beach Resort, which was ok, but I probably wouldn't stay there again.

At night, we had a special after hours pass for Magic Kingdom. It is probably the best thing I have ever done at Disney. We felt like the we had the entire park to ourselves! We went through entire sections without ever running into another person. We got on all the rides we wanted to with no wait, gorged on popcorn, and ran around like little kids. I have TONS of pics, but I'm not sharing on Facebook because it doesn't seem right to flaunt our awesome trip while everyone else that's deployed doesn't get the same opportunity. All I can say is that we were extremely lucky for this mini break from the deployment. It's not something that usually happens. Check out this pic from the After Hours event. There are no people around!

After Disney, we went back to my mom's for my grandfather's celebration of life. On Sunday, we laid around and did laundry until it was time for me to take Bryan to the airport. It was an hour and a half drive, which I did not think through. I spent an hour in the airport with him, and when it was time to say goodbye, I lost it. It was harder than when he left in September. Then, I had to drive an hour and a half back to my mom's in what I can only describe as hurricane conditions. It was pouring and I was driving 45 miles per hour on a 70 mile per hour highway. I cried. A lot.

Monday, I drove the 7 hours home from Daytona. Hoss is obviously depressed that Bryan just disappeared again. He's been sleeping for the past 2 days. When I got home to my empty house, I lost it again. Luckily my friend Leanne agreed to meet me at the gym last night. It helped me get some of the sadness out in a productive way instead of eating or drinking my feelings. I came home to a couple gifts from my friend Donna and Aunt Dineen. I also came home to this:

Today I woke up early, got some work done for MCEC, went to the gym, then helped a fellow spouse clean her empty apartment for a move out. I'm tired, but it kept me busy. Tomorrow I have to wash Bryan's clothes, so I know it'll be a tough day. But hey, I got some extra days with him, so I'm grateful.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Countdown!

I'm starting this blog to help me get my feelings out in a way that's constructive and reflective, instead of just ugly crying, drinking wine, and watching Netflix. So, in a way, it's like a diary. A diary that I'm planning to share, which is a bit frightening because I'm a pretty self-contained person. I just want to be able to look back at these posts one day and (hopefully) laugh. We just moved from CA back to FL (where we lived once before). I'm familiar(ish) with the the area and I have some connections here still, so I'm not utterly alone, but I'm still lonely. My husband leaves in about 36 hours, and I won't see him again for close to 8 months. This will be the longest we've ever been separated. He's been deployed 5 times before, so it's routine. NOT! I hate that assumption. It's never routine to send your spouse off to some foreign land where people hate him and sit around wondering if he's safe, if he's eating well,
Read more

Holiday Blues

Image
Well, it's been another hard week. I have continued to apply to multiple jobs a day with little to no response. This week, I applied for a case manager position for the boys correctional facility. I was called for an interview and it went really well. I even think I'd like the job. They'll be interviewing next week and then they'll get back to me. The pay is abysmal. And the commute is just about an hour one way. If the job was right down the street, I'd probably take it. But I just don't know if I can spend 2 hours a day in the car for the pay they're offering. I've got just about 8 weeks of unemployment left (not counting if they grant an extension), so eventually I'll have to take something, anything. My plan for backup is that if I don't get something and unemployment runs out, I'll probably take one of those easy work-from-home customer service jobs while I keep searching. I can tell you one thing for sure, we will not stay in thi
Read more

Red Horse Wives Gone Wild

Image
 5 weeks have gone by, but this week had some ups and downs. Tuesday was a quiet day. I needed a day to do laundry etc. after visiting my mom. Hoss was wiped out too, as you can see.  I've had a few more nibbles this week regarding jobs. One is working with Prudential/USO on a financial counseling program for Military members, another possibility is the Recovery Care Coordinator position for SOCOM. In addition, I met another military spouse that works at the local YMCA. She said they need spin instructors so I'm planning to check it out tomorrow. In the meantime, I have found some fun ways to make money or get freebies. 23 and Me is conducting a study and I'm giving my spit for $100. Also doing a coffee kcup study where I'll get 72 kcups for free just to report back on how I liked them.  Wednesday I was expecting to have an emotional day since Bryan was supposed to finally leave the country. Of course, there were delays, many delays, and he didn't l
Read more