Day 145

Today is our 5th day back at home, and the first that we've actually stayed home all day.
It has done my hermit heart good.

We've been running around like crazy to Awanas, the blue bus, church, playdates, dinner with friends, Bible study, the library...
You know we've been keeping busy when Derek naps three days in a row. I mean, he hadn't napped in months. We are just wearing that kid out.

And that's a good thing.

Alex has spent oodles of time crafting in her room, and we've almost got all of the unpacking done.
I use the term we very loosely, since the kids just drag stuff out while I'm trying to put stuff away.
So I guess I use it more inappropriately than loosely, per se.

But it's been good to be home.

Everywhere I look, I see something to be done-- things to sort through, papers to file, reminders for appointments to make. I definitely have the feeling that things are not really going to settle down.
Like, ever.

This is good, because I miss my other half and the faster the days go by, the better.
I would actually like him to come home now. I wonder if there's someone I can call about that.
6 months is too long.

I often wonder what Derek really thinks about his daddy being gone for so long. Alex gets it; she can look at the calendar with me and understand the idea. But Derek doesn't get the concept that well. He rarely ever mentions Josh. He often refuses to talk on skype or the phone.
I wonder if he's angry about it, or sad about it, but it's hard to pull that kind of info out of a 4 year old.
So I just give him lots of snuggles, and he seems to be coping in his own way.

Yesterday he was playing play doh at the table, and out of nowhere said to me: Mommy, I want my Daddy to come home. I remember we used to play bad guys together. Can he come home while I'm sleeping?

It made me tear up a little.
Well, it was either that or the onions I was chopping.

(I really like onions. And Josh really doesn't like onion breath. So I've been eating onions with reckless abandon. I totally live on the edge.)

I can't say enough how excited I am about the next couple of years, and how wonderful they will be for our family. Between more normal work hours and no deployments, we are going to be so spoiled.

Can't wait!