So, first off, I wanted to send many thanks to all of you who have been so gracious and wonderful and supportive in response to my last post. I have to say that it wasn't easy to write; I had been turning it over in my mind for several weeks, trying to figure out exactly how I wanted to phrase the disclosure of so much news all at once. You all made it so much easier, though; we've gotten nothing but happiness, excitement and genuine encouragement. THANK YOU.
Last Thursday, Ads and I packed up the car for the what-we-thought-would-be-10-hour-but-actually-turned-out-to-be-12-hour drive from Michigan to Virginia. It was a long, but nice drive, as we had time to talk, make some decisions and just have alone time before his 6-month absence. We pulled into my sister's driveway at 7am Friday morning, briefly glanced at all the fabulous renovations she and her husband have done to the house, and then promptly fell asleep for the next few hours. The weekend was really great--my mum, sister and brother-in-law had all taken time off work to spend the weekend with us. We bummed around the house, catching up on everything and relaxing after our long drive; watched a lot of cable tv, which we don't have at home; and my mum and I caught up on some movies we've been dying to watch together ("Jane Austen Book Club" and "Sense and Sensibility"). Saturday we bummed around the house until we left in the afternoon to see my sister's and brother-in-law's coffee shop, "The Filling Station", which I wrote about in a previous entry. Their partners, Debbie and Eric, were there and ready for Open Mic Night, which happens every Friday and Saturday evening. We had a great time with music, good conversation, and meeting new people from the town of Edinburg in the Shenandoah Valley.
Sunday, Adam, Kika and I ran around trying to get my rental car, and trying to pack everything up for his trip to Ft. Lee, and my trip back to Michigan. Needless to say, it was really, really hard to say good-bye this time; it always is, but this time, with baby-in-tow, was even harder. At this point, we're not even sure what his holiday leave schedule is, so we don't yet have a definitive date for when we'll see each other again. Add to the fact that we found out that his training schedule has him leaving Virginia in early February for additional training in Georgia or Oklahoma, which would totally make my moving to Virginia in January pretty obsolete. So, for now, I'll be in Michigan, and we're hoping that the stars will align to make it possible for us to see each other over the next 6 months. At the very least, he's still slated to be back in Michigan a good 1 or 1 1/2 months before the birth, assuming the spud doesn't decide to come 6 weeks early!
Kiks and I set off for Michigan just past 2pm, which was good because we had a nice, long good-bye with Adam, but bad because it meant I had a 12 hour drive ahead of me. Not even 2 hours into the trip, there was a massive traffic backup due to construction that delayed us by a good 45 minutes. I tried to speed a bit to make up for the delay, but the cops were on the prowl that day, so I had to drive rather prudently. Kiksa and I shared the driving; with her encroaching glaucoma, she preferred daylight driving, so I let her take the weening daylight hours and then I drove through the night. We kept ourselves awake listening to "All 80s" radio stations and singing along, really loudly, to every tune we knew. That Kika really does have some pipes on her. Spoke to a few friends, but my cell phone was running out of battery juice, so I had to hang up and rely on the radio for the majority of the trip. Around 11pm, I pulled into a reststop just west of Oberlin, OH, and almost took a nap. However, after a rejuvenating cup of (decaf) coffee, mixed fruit and an oatmeal cookie, I was ready to hit the road again. The pull of sleeping in my own bed was just too tempting to resist. So we were off once more, and rolled into our driveway (3 torrential rainstorms later) at 2am. I was too tired to even clean out the car; I just greeted a very lonesome Greg House, let Kika potty, and then we all piled into bed, as I had to be up for work by 7am. Adam had to be awake by 2:30, so I called him just before I hit full-fledge sleep to let him know we'd made it home safely. He was sleepy and groggy, but it was good to hear his voice right before I drifted off.
So, that's that. Kika, Greg House, the spud and I are hanging in there now, but really missing our man. The man is doing well, adjusting to a new branch of the military and to being away from home yet again. Hopefully we'll hear some good news soon of his holiday schedule so we'll have that definitive date for when we'll see him again. Until then, life goes on as normal.
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