Empty Nest

As all the kids are starting to go back to school and the moms are noticing an empty house, I too am experience an empty nest. Jay left for the field yesterday and will be gone a month. We've had a good week spent together which was really nice. He had been working really late nights, but tried hard to get home earlier the past few days. I really appreciated that!!

This is their last training before deployment, so they have a lot on their plate. They will be getting graded for several of the missions during the month. There will be higher up guys there watching, making sure they are completely prepared for Afghanistan.

Jay had to leave a week early because he had to get things set up. Yesterday, they scoped out the place, figured out where they will be doing their missions, sleeping, eating, all the basics. The rest of the guys leave next Monday.

I went to a conference last year and one of the sessions was about relationships. The one thing that sticks to me the most from that conference is the following.... Don't get mad when your husband leaves his socks on the floor or a wet towel in a pile. Instead, be thankful that he is home... On days when my house looks like this...

I am thankful that my husband is home. I don't care how big of a mess he makes, at least I can still give him hugs and tell him how much I love him. This is what our house looked like since Saturday. Jay took an inventory of every last military piece we have in our house. He layed it all out on the dining room floor. He then packed things a little more orderly. He put all of the winter gear in a bag while I made a spreadsheet on the computer. Most of this stuff will be heading out with him on deployment. My house is going to look empty without all these green things around!

By Tuesday night when I came home, the house was spotless. He had all of his things picked up and the table table in order. He's so great!

Say a prayer for the guys as the real thing is getting close. This is the practice round for the guys and for the ladies too. We are treating it like a deployment to make sure we know what to do on our own, like bills, changing oil, taxes, etc. I'm feeling pretty confident that I can hold down the house. I do most of those things anyway. Automatic bill payment makes life a lot easier!!