Home Alone!

As most of you know, I only had limited days of vacation available to remain in the States.The time home went much faster than I expected and I’ve told many that it felt like I returned to Slavutich before I had left.– So I ended up returning to Slavuitch well before my family.

I was on my own; I had the house to myself!I had complete control of what “I” wanted to do.The problem is my family brings me such joy and fun, I wasn’t sure what “I wanted to do”?!And all of a sudden the luxuries of having my dinner cooked for me when I got home from work, the “daily” grocery shopping completed were gone…..I had to fend for myself now!

I managed to find a routine, I resorted pretty quickly into “bachelorhood” – I was eating out of the pot that I cooked dinner in (of course to save on dishes).I could now cook whatever I felt like and eat whenever I felt hungry.I could leave whenever I wanted to ride my bicycle.Watch “TV” at lunch or whenever else I wanted…..I think I caught every episode of SG-1 (yes it’s a guy thing)I was also able to pick the dumbest Action movies I could find and didn’t have to worry about being judged for my amusement of watching a pointless and stupid plot.I was having a great time!

That was all fun for about a week maybe two, but then by week three I was ready for my girls to be home (that includes my wonderful wife)….the hours felt like days when I was home alone and the house became incredibly quiet and “lifeless”; I had no reason to “head” home after work. By week four I could not hardly wait for them to come home and was so excited at the thought, like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, I would wake up with anticipation!

Finally the day arrived and when the girls came running up to me, it was the best feeling in the world it was such a great homecoming.We had lots of hugs and kisses and it really reminded me how blessed I am to have such a wonderful gift as my family.

Tony Returns

It was a lot of work getting me ready to leave after an exhausting three weeks of running to and fro, finishing with much needed time at the beach only returning  a day before leaving left little time to finish all the last minute details to get packed and say my goodbyes.  We spent a late night packing and filling suitcases and carry-ons to maximum weight…unless you’ve had to figure out how to pack 8 pieces of luggage with a year’s supply of food, clothes and presents there is no way to describe the pain it is to get it to fit and still maintain the 50lb weight limits.

I was able to say some emotional goodbyes the previous day to family as well as getting in my last meal; it felt kinda like I was heading to the gallows or something.  The next morning Nichole, the girls and my mom were waiting with me at the airport before I entered security and off to Slavutich.  It was so nice to hug and love on family, but it came with a huge emotional departure….my poor girls.  However, with the normal twists of life, my flight ended up being cancelled and the only option was to rescheduled the next day….I had to call Nichole to pick me up, fortunately the girls went to spend the night with family and friends after the airport so they didn’t know I hadn’t left.  Nichole and I took advantage of the extra time, had dinner, watched a movie and hung out together…it was the closest thing we’ve had to a date for a long time.   All in all, I was able to get extra time with Nichole and some upgrades in seating because of it and once I got on the plane everything went as expected for flying internationally. 

I can tell you, the re-entry was tougher than I thought it would be and being without my family for a month just added to the dread.  However after getting a little rest, I can say I’m glad to be back!

Turn around again?!

We planned on going to the ocean to have some isolated time with my parents, well, all was good until it was decided to leave a day early….that’s not good when no one had planned to go early.  Nichole the magical woman she is was able to get all the food together, cookies made and four people packed and ready to go….that left my parents….with a lot of waiting and more waiting we ended up leaving the house for our 5 ½ hour adventure at 8:30pm.  Well about 30minutes into the trip mom realized she forgot a critical medicine so turn around we went so now at about 9:15pm we are finally on our way….the trip was good, most everyone got to sleep (except me, the driver…that’s good right…I miss being the passenger all the time).  We finally got everyone to bed at about 2:30am, ouch!

The ocean was wonderful, we had a lot of great time together, building castles, going for walks, eating a seafood bonanza of fresh crab, scallops, shrimp and chowder; oh so yummy!  It was certainly worth the effort.

We turned around for something forgotten on four other outings in a three day trip; that’s more than once a day!

Fourth of July

There is something that feels extra prideful about the Fourth when you have lived outside the country.  I truly believe we live in the greatest and grandest nation on the planet; we are so amazingly blessed to call America home and to have the nation that we have.  You really don’t appreciate the awesomeness of our freedom and the price that was paid for it until you realize how the majority of the rest of the world lives.  Our day was filled with the usual, BQ with family, playing games and visiting…then of course the highlight of the night the massive firework display.   Thank you to all our men and women who served and currently serve defending our freedom and especially to those that gave their lives for it.  May God continue to bless America!

Busyness:

We were warned about being busy on our Home Leave, but busy isn’t the right word, it's more like extremely chaotic.  There was a point that I just put my head on the table and out of frustration wished I had never come back…of course that didn’t sit too well with family within earshot.  With all the shopping for another year of supplies, Christmas and birthdays, doctor visits and a few other commitments and duties, there was little time to spend with our family who we’ve missed so much.  Then there is trying to find time for our friends.  We ended up having to build a schedule and there was very little ability to deviate from it; which made for some frustrating moments for everyone because there was no room for change….one change caused something else to be eliminated.  I just appreciated our family and friends understanding and squeezing time for us out their busy life styles to accommodate our schedule.  We had a few moments in the day were we could “slow down” and enjoy our time but busy it was not….it was ludicrous.

Leavenworth

We left the day after we arrived to spend the weekend with family up in Leavenworth, we had the chance to stay at a cabin and get some great quality time being with family and letting the girls catch up with their cousins…..it was as if they didn’t even leave, they pick up right where they left off a year ago.  Of course, we didn’t feel like doing much the jet lag and time difference was a bit of a challenge but we managed to have a wonderful time.  For a two nights it felt more like a four day trip…in a good way with all the things we did.

Coming Home!

It’s been one very fast year for us, but we were all excited to be coming home!  All the travel went without a hitch and we were greeted with lots of hugs, laughter, hugs, and more hugs by family and a few surprise friends that showed up at the airport.  The girls ended up staying up a total of 25 hours, and we were around 28hrs but it was well worth it.  We had such a wonderful greeting from our friends and family!