Life Is Good

So, yeah, in case you missed the big news - Joe's home!

He arrived in Maryland on Friday evening. Since the next flight wouldn't get in here until around midnight he stayed overnight there and caught the first flight out Saturday morning. The airport is an hour away from my mom, so she, my step-dad, sister, and her boyfriend surprised Joe at the airport. They met him when he came out of customs and took him out to dinner. I'm glad he was able to see some friendly, familiar faces once he got back to the states!

And as you could tell from the video Kayla didn't want to let go of him once she was in his arms. Even after she gave him a kiss she immediately snuggled back into his neck/shoulder. She made sure he didn't leave her sight! I was surprised she willingly went with me to the bathroom; and when he went she didn't take her eyes off the door until he came back out!

I think it took her a minute to register that it really was Daddy in the flesh and not on the computer or phone! After 4 months of hearing me say "No Kayla, that's not daddy" when we were around base and she spotted some guy in uniform, she wasn't quite sure if she believed it was really him.

Remember when Kayla and I went to Roswell for the Buddy Walk and the adventure in getting there? Yeah our trip to the airport wasn't without it's own adventure too! Nothing compared to what happened going to Roswell though.

Our closest airport is in El Paso, TX (1.5 hrs away) where the population is around 700,000...we live in a town with a population of about 35,000. So El Paso is a huge city (4th largest in TX) and the only place I know how to get to in EP is the airport - anywhere else and Joe has to drive. I've driven to the airport and back by myself plenty of times and it's an easy drive for me. This time we encountered construction where they had a few exits closed on the highway - I had to get off before my exit and couldn't get back on. I figured since I was on the side access road that would take me where I needed to go as if I had just come off the highway anyway...except the left turn I needed to make on Fred Wilson Blvd was also closed off. That's the only way I know how to get to the airport. I was talking out loud and said "oh no, I don't know how to find the airport!" and Kayla pipes up from the back seat, "oh I find it!" If only you COULD help me Kayla!

There was no where to pull over, I just had to follow the flow of traffic, worried that I was getting farther into the city and would have no idea to find my way out! I noticed the yellow "detour Fred Wilson" signs and followed those which turned me around and I thought, "ok this is good, I'll end up on the right road after all" - except somehow I missed a sign or something, I don't know what happened. I passed over Fred Wilson again, but it was a one-way turn and I wasn't facing the right way.

Now I'm heading out of the city back towards the highway going home...not good either. I stay on the access road and finally see a gas station. Then a police motorcycle pulls in front to stop traffic for a funeral procession. That's when I start crying from the stress of it all. I just want to get to the airport and see my husband again! I'm worried about how late I'll be and having no way to get a hold of him. Finally I get to the gas station and ask for directions - thank you God, it's relatively easy from there! I made it to the airport and Joe had only been waiting about 10 min, so that was good. Nothing like a little drama for me though!

Life is definitely good having him back home. He's had some in-processing briefings and appointments to go to this week, and then starting next week he'll be off for 2 wks (so my blogging will probably be sporadic!)

So things are starting to get back to normal around here ... things like ...

- going through a gallon of milk much faster than when it was just Kayla and me
- more laundry piling up
- more dirty dishes in the sink
- less leftovers in the fridge
- less room in the bed for me (I had become used to having the whole bed to myself and being able to sleep from one side or the other!)
- being woken up in the middle of the night by someone snoring
- having someone stay up until 2AM (oh excuse me, 1:50 AM) reading their new book they got for Christmas, in bed, while I'm trying to sleep (ok that only happened last night!)
- finding clothes blocking the closet door so I have to kick them out of the way (each and every day) to get into the closet to put my dirty clothes in the hamper, you know, where dirty clothes actually go!

Yeah things are getting back to normal around here...and life is good :)

Thank you all so much for your support, prayers, and well wishes while Joe was gone and for his safe return home!