Fighter Pilot's Wives

When you're married to a fighter pilot, there are a few things that you have to come to terms with in order to keep your relationship healthy.

You must accept that a 12-hour duty day is typical, that he will be away from home for weeks or months on end, and that his job carries a certain amount of risk.
We accept these things because we know that what they're doing is important, or because flying is their passion, or both.

For me, it's simple:
I put up with all that crap because my husband looks really hot in a flight suit.
(The same cannot be said about me.)

Move over Jake Pavelka, you've got nothing on my man.

But even though I understand that being away is part of his job, it's still a tough thing.
I miss my husband and I miss my parenting partner.
Sometimes it's the little things that get to you-- the lawnwork he usually does or having to give all of the baths.
Sometimes it's the big things, like missed birthdays, anniversaries, and Christmases.

But he does look really, really good in a flight suit.

One of the things that helps a lot of spouses during a deployment is to have some sort of personal goal that you want to achieve while you're on your own.

Last February, Josh's job took him away for 5 weeks. I tried to keep my goal simple for that trip:
I wanted to clean out my closet.
Unfortunately, due to a deadly TV combination of The Bachelor, The Biggest Loser, and American Idol, I only spent a grand total of 14 hours minutes working in my closet.
So that project got pushed back until his next trip.

And now I find myself with only days to spare before he returns (yea!) and my closet is not exactly in order.
I just spent an hour and a half in there, sorting piles to toss and to give away.
I came across an Ann Taylor jacket that I hadn't seen in a looooong time. I love the color, and thought that I'd try it on to see if it was something I wanted to keep.

It had shoulder pads.

Does this tell you how badly I needed to sort through my clothes? (No, I did not keep it.)

Good news: I have plenty to do to keep my evenings filled until Josh returns home.
Bad news: My bedroom looks like it got hit by a tornado.

Good news: My handsome husband and all of his flight suits will be back very soon.
Bad news: An unfortunate intersection on the calendar of his arrival and the arrival of a monthly visitor of mine will take away one of the better aspects of a re-deployment.

Because if the flight suit is reason number one that I accept the life I have, then reason number two is the homecoming sex.

Did I just cross the line?
Sorry, I'm always doing that.

Sometimes I'm really glad that my grandparents don't know what the internet is.