I miss you.
You have been MIA for almost a year now. With a random pop in here and there. You're such a tease. I need you to either stay, or stop coming around. It's not fair to let me get used to you being here, and then you disappear for a few weeks. Jerk.
Sarge's mini-me was sleeping really good for about a week. I mean, really good. Eleven to twelve hours at a time with no peeps. It was the first break from my insomnia that I've had since I was about seven months pregnant. But, as soon as I got comfortable getting a nice stretch of sleep, he started waking up several times a night again. F you, Murphy. Seriously.
I can only assume it's more teeth. Either way, it's not fair. My dark circles just started to go away... and now they're back, laughing at me. >/
Friday, January 21, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
The Systematic Destruction of a Deployment
Hey, y'all! (Yeah, I'm from the south.) I hope everyone's new year has been good to them so far. Hope you're sticking to those resolutions still! Remember: when it comes to things like working out, stopping doing something (maybe removing soda from your diet, for instance), it takes about 27 days or so, and after that, it won't be work anymore. It'll just be natural. So, stick with it!
I'm doing the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred DVD. Completed day seven today. It's the longest I've stuck with it. But I'm confident that I can do it! :) Between that and diet changes, I've lost 10 pounds since the end of November. I think I'm doing pretty good. I don't think getting into shape is going to be a problem... but when he gets back it will become more challenging to keep with it. I always lose weight when he's gone, and as soon as he gets back, I gain ten pounds within the first few months. He does the same thing. Sarge says we won't do that this time, though (I'm glad he's confident... but, I know better, ha). So, my second goal this year is to learn about healthy eating habits for all of us, and have some new, healthy, yummy recipes when he gets home mastered.
Then, I'll only have to pound into his head what "portion control" means, hehe.
But, I gotta make it through this deployment first. It must be destroyed. I do have a system for said destruction. It's always helped me out. And today, I shall share, in hopes that maybe it can help some other soul out.
Like any other daunting task, it's best to break the deployment into segments. Because otherwise, you're sitting here looking at 12+ months, and being emo because it feels like it's never going to end and you will never make it through sane.
Short term goals are key. You have to find something to count down to. Preferably something that is close, maybe a month or two out. Any longer than that, and it kind of defeats the purpose. It doesn't have to be something big like a holiday, or vacation. Just something. Then, after that one is gone, you count down to another one. Instead of counting down a year, you're counting down weeks at a time, and before you know it, you're counting down to homecoming! Sure, times will still be trying, and it's not going to make you miss him/her any less, but it's an easy way to break it up and knock that twelve month monkey off your back.
This time around, I had a blip in my strategy. I don't recall if I've mentioned it before, but he normally leaves after the holidays, this year, he left right before. So, I don't have my end of deployment, holiday trampling to get me through the end quick. It was great. One down, two down, three down, HOME! Oh well. -shrug-
I counted down to my birthday and then Thanksgiving this year, which was nice, because his parents came down to see me and the baby. Then, Christmas came and went. New Years. My next hurdle is Valentine's Day. Which comes with a slew of projects in itself. I'm trying to get a nice box put together for him. Of course, I don't always have the time to really think much about what's going in it... at least not as much as I used to. Mommy brain and all. It's enough to keep me busy though.
After that, is St. Patrick's Day, not that I'll be doing anything but passing out information on free rides home to my friends who like to go out and drink. But, it's something to count down to. And, I can probably find some cute green outfit to snap pictures of the baby in (who is not much of a baby anymore! He cut his two bottom teeth today, and started to sit on his own! All in one day! He's going to be running around, kissing girls before I know it).
Sometime in March-April, I'm trying to make plans to go see my bestie up in NY. No, not NYC. Upstate NY. In the cold. >.> Heh. My friend in FL is also trying to get me to take a roadtrip down to see her, but I might save that one for later in the year when I need it. There will also be a handful of wedding activities to take care of.
May is packed! I've got a wedding (bridesmaid!), my fourth wedding anniversary, R&R, and my son's birthday. It's going to be crazy, but, I can't wait. :) It'll also mark 7 months down, which is also good stuff. The first half always seems to take forever.
4th of July is after that. We might either throw a small BBQ, or attend one, but nothing really much going on there, other than something to count down to.
August is empty other than a birthday or two. Might make that trip to FL this month, haha. Unless someone in NY or VA want to come visit me down here. -wink wink- ;)
September is Sarge's birthday, and will probably be the last package I send, so it'll be a big one. I have a few other birthdays this month, so those will help fill up the voids.
October-November mark homecoming. And Halloween! The best holiday ever. It's even better now that I get to pick out costumes for my kid. :D I already know what we're doing, too. Batman theme this year. Because I already have the costume! So, all I have to do is buy his, and possibly Sarge's (if he's home).
I'm doing the Jillian Michaels 30-Day Shred DVD. Completed day seven today. It's the longest I've stuck with it. But I'm confident that I can do it! :) Between that and diet changes, I've lost 10 pounds since the end of November. I think I'm doing pretty good. I don't think getting into shape is going to be a problem... but when he gets back it will become more challenging to keep with it. I always lose weight when he's gone, and as soon as he gets back, I gain ten pounds within the first few months. He does the same thing. Sarge says we won't do that this time, though (I'm glad he's confident... but, I know better, ha). So, my second goal this year is to learn about healthy eating habits for all of us, and have some new, healthy, yummy recipes when he gets home mastered.
Then, I'll only have to pound into his head what "portion control" means, hehe.
But, I gotta make it through this deployment first. It must be destroyed. I do have a system for said destruction. It's always helped me out. And today, I shall share, in hopes that maybe it can help some other soul out.
Like any other daunting task, it's best to break the deployment into segments. Because otherwise, you're sitting here looking at 12+ months, and being emo because it feels like it's never going to end and you will never make it through sane.
Short term goals are key. You have to find something to count down to. Preferably something that is close, maybe a month or two out. Any longer than that, and it kind of defeats the purpose. It doesn't have to be something big like a holiday, or vacation. Just something. Then, after that one is gone, you count down to another one. Instead of counting down a year, you're counting down weeks at a time, and before you know it, you're counting down to homecoming! Sure, times will still be trying, and it's not going to make you miss him/her any less, but it's an easy way to break it up and knock that twelve month monkey off your back.
This time around, I had a blip in my strategy. I don't recall if I've mentioned it before, but he normally leaves after the holidays, this year, he left right before. So, I don't have my end of deployment, holiday trampling to get me through the end quick. It was great. One down, two down, three down, HOME! Oh well. -shrug-
I counted down to my birthday and then Thanksgiving this year, which was nice, because his parents came down to see me and the baby. Then, Christmas came and went. New Years. My next hurdle is Valentine's Day. Which comes with a slew of projects in itself. I'm trying to get a nice box put together for him. Of course, I don't always have the time to really think much about what's going in it... at least not as much as I used to. Mommy brain and all. It's enough to keep me busy though.
After that, is St. Patrick's Day, not that I'll be doing anything but passing out information on free rides home to my friends who like to go out and drink. But, it's something to count down to. And, I can probably find some cute green outfit to snap pictures of the baby in (who is not much of a baby anymore! He cut his two bottom teeth today, and started to sit on his own! All in one day! He's going to be running around, kissing girls before I know it).
Sometime in March-April, I'm trying to make plans to go see my bestie up in NY. No, not NYC. Upstate NY. In the cold. >.> Heh. My friend in FL is also trying to get me to take a roadtrip down to see her, but I might save that one for later in the year when I need it. There will also be a handful of wedding activities to take care of.
May is packed! I've got a wedding (bridesmaid!), my fourth wedding anniversary, R&R, and my son's birthday. It's going to be crazy, but, I can't wait. :) It'll also mark 7 months down, which is also good stuff. The first half always seems to take forever.
4th of July is after that. We might either throw a small BBQ, or attend one, but nothing really much going on there, other than something to count down to.
August is empty other than a birthday or two. Might make that trip to FL this month, haha. Unless someone in NY or VA want to come visit me down here. -wink wink- ;)
September is Sarge's birthday, and will probably be the last package I send, so it'll be a big one. I have a few other birthdays this month, so those will help fill up the voids.
October-November mark homecoming. And Halloween! The best holiday ever. It's even better now that I get to pick out costumes for my kid. :D I already know what we're doing, too. Batman theme this year. Because I already have the costume! So, all I have to do is buy his, and possibly Sarge's (if he's home).
That's right. I even made the cheesy sign. :D What you can't see, is that I had the original Batman theme song on my phone, and I played it whenever I entered a room. Because I'm G like that.
So, as you can see, a year can easily be broken down. And doing so, will save the spouse quite a bit of grief. And honestly, it's not that hard to do. It's almost fun trying to figure out what to count down to next. I know with the baby, I'll have even more things to look forward to (crawling, first steps, first words, first time in the pool, etc.).
Here's to handing deployments their rear-ends back after you've thoroughly kicked them into mush. :)
Until next time! Vchanny, out.
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