Tackling deployment...

Fab husband headed out last week on deployment, and we're still getting used to the idea of him being gone for SO long.  But we're all coping well, and having some fun to keep from dwelling on the fact that we already miss him like crazy!

Since my last post, we've been busy!  Shon was determined to get a few household projects going before he left (I think he likes leaving in chaos), as well as projects for the squadron's ready room on the carrier.  During the 2 weeks before he left, he built a kitchen island (doors and drawers will be added later, and I'll be painting it to match our white cabinets soon), we finally removed / sanded / stained all the banisters to match the wood flooring we installed last year, he welded together a bunch of metal into a massive 12' desk for the ready room, and finished it off in gorgeous birch stained two-tone, and he finished up the big flooring project for the ready room.  Pics of all done for the boat will be coming soon, I hope, and pics of the house will be coming soon as well.  He also bought a car for our oldest daughter - more on that below.

Before he left, we also enjoyed a wonderful visit from my sister-in-law, 8 month old nephew, and mother-in-law.  It was so much fun having a baby in the house again!  He was so adorable, and we joke that we miss my nephew more than we miss my husband.  It was great fun to watch him zip around the house in his walker, dropping food as he went, dog following behind anxious for the little treats.  Love that little guy!

Since Shon has been gone, we've gone to see Despicable Me (I knew better going to a movie that particular day - I slept through almost the entire thing, but the kids loved it); rented 4 or 5 movies, swam in the pool, had adult friends over twice and kid friends daily, scrubbed the entire house clean, painted the porch rails, and practiced driving.

So now a little about the car.  Shon will miss our daughter's 16th birthday.  He's missed all but one of her birthdays in the last 10 years or so because of the military.  He's always felt terrible about it, but none could be avoided.  He really wanted to make it up to her in advance for missing such an important birthday, so he decided we'd buy her a car.  We'd originally talked about matching the money she saved, and then financing the rest on an inexpensive car.  Then emotion won out against plans and logic, and he bought her a 2007 VW beetle in Salsa Red.  I just love saying that: Salsa Red.  He went all out, too.  Car only has 23,000 miles on it, under warranty, sunroof, heated leather seats.  This car has serious zip. 

Shon surprised Ashlee with it the same day she passed her permit test.  Needless to say, she was stoked, and surprisingly terrified to drive it (though she had no problems driving my monstrous SUV).  So we've been practicing her driving VERY late at night when there are fewer cars on the road.  What can I say?  She's a teenager who stays up until 2 every morning, then wakes up at noon, and I don't sleep much when Shon is away.  Perfect match.  Our youngest rides in the backseat - awake at first, then asleep about halfway into our practices.  The driving last night was the best Ashlee's ever done.  She's getting good, and last night was the first time on "open road" where I wasn't convinced we were all going to crash.

Off for now.  Ashlee is finally up, so it's time to decide what to do for the day.  :-)

Counting down the days...

We finally got my fabulous husband back for a few weeks, but now we're counting down the days until he leaves on his actual deployment.  14 days.  We're all trying to keep positive and enjoy what family time we can with him. 

Unfortunately, he was put in charge of redesigning the squadron's ready room, so he's been busy with welding / building a new massive desk and final touches on his flooring project.  In case I've not mentioned that on here before, fabulous husband built his own CNC machine a few years back, and broke it out again to do a tile inset for the ready room.  It's the squadron's logo cut out of appropriately colored vinyl floor tiles (what the squadron had to use).  The entire thing measures 5' x 5', and has taken months so far.  Now he only has a week or so until the packout to finish up the finer details, piece it all together like a puzzle, and epoxy it all together into one big piece.

On a lighter note, yesterday was the 4th of July - our favorite holiday (aside from Christmas - I'm a Christmas fanatic) - and was the 19th anniversary of the night we met.  :-)