Deployment Day #56 & #57

All I wanted for Christmas was to be alone. I realize that many people look forward to spending Christmas with the folks that they love, but I wanted something different.

I’d been dreading Christmas since we found out about the deployment this summer. I didn’t want to spend Christmas huddled around the computer using FaceTime to spend time together as a family.

Tired from all the shopping and wrapping and fighting a nasty cold I just wanted to skip Christmas altogether.

Instead of being alone I had extra people at my house all day Christmas Eve. We even had extra people spend the night. Normally I’m up for guests 365 days a year, but this year was different.

I woke up Christmas morning with a horrible headache, which got worse as the day went on. I tried to put on a happy face for the kids (the littles were just really excited about the big day) and muddle through it.

I tried to lay down throughout the day hoping to get rid of the headache, but it just got worse. My kids ate cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

My house is a disaster.

I wish it went differently. Fortunately my kids were so excited about their new toys they didn’t really notice that I was up and down all day. They didn’t care that they ate cereal for dinner.

It wasn’t the day that I wanted, but it was the day I got and it’s one day closer to being back together as a family again.

My husband has been deployed to the Middle East for 274 days.  These are my real thoughts expressing my heart during his absence.  I appreciate your prayers and kind words as we cope, adapt, and carry on without him until August 2014.  To read from the beginning, click here.