Almost over

Well, it has been a long year. Clint is finally back on U.S. soil, or should I say sand, since he is around Savannah, GA. He is going through his clearance process, and should be back home early next week. He left last year on April 5th, and arrived back in the states on March 1st. It went by quicker than I thought, but was still a long time.

I took the boys with me and we went to Ft. Stewart on Saturday. They got to see "Army Base" life on Sunday, went to the PX, Aidan got a haircut at a real life Army barber shop. He is so funny... He says he has "army hair" now. Love that kid.... We all did some shopping at the PX. Love that tax free!! Both of the boys were amazed that there were fast food restaurants and gas stations on base, even a bowling alley! They loved it. I think what they loved the most was that they felt closer to Clint somehow. Everywhere were turned, someone was walking around in uniform. Around here, if someone is in a military uniform, people look. On a base, it is normal.

Clint landed at 3am on Monday. I had a stomach virus (fantastic), so we had all gone to bed at 7pm the night before. Luckily, I have 2 great kids that understood that Mommy was sick, and there were no grandparents there to help, so they had to just sit there and behave. We were there on the parade field, sick and all, at 4:45am when the buses finally drove up with police escort and sirens blaring. I had seen it before, but it was still exciting. Ethan had seen it before, but didn't really remember. It was all new to Aidan. They screamed and yelled with me and everyone else, and were finally reunited with their Dad. I stood there and let them have their hugs and knuckle punches, then finally dove in for my time. I really should have kept my distance since I was sick, but that was not going to happen. Clint ended up getting the virus a couple of days later. I felt terrible, but neither of us were willing to go any longer without a good kiss!

We are ready to get back to normal, even though that will probably take a while. There are a lot of things to get used to now. He has to get used to the basics, like civilians, driving, having control of the TV (which I am not ready to part with), and day to day life. There are more things that I have to get used to. Really, there are more to even mention. If you take that one person out of your life completely, just imagine how many things there are to adjust to. I welcome most of the adjustments, though. They are good things, and things that I didn't like living without!

Well, I will provide updates as more are available. Saying goodbye to Clint was easier this time, since it was only going to be a week. A week is nothing!!