We Survived!

Well July is just about over and boy did it take its time! July has easily become my least favorite month. Although I'm not a fan of extreme heat and no rain that has nothing to do with it. July in this family - and probably many families like ours - means annual training. And annual training means the hubs is gone for two-three weeks, which I have adjusted to each year if we are being completely honest but it's the lack of communication that I will never get used to. But as I do every year I get through and before I know it, it's over with and behind us.

Like I had mentioned in a recent post, I'm not just a Marine wife this year (read it here). I'm a mom. So going into annual training this year I knew it would be nothing like I had been in the past. It wasn't just going to be me going to work (either full-time or part-time) then coming back home and relaxing, watching movies, doing some reading, going out and about. The freedom to do those things as I wish disappears when you have a baby. It just meant that this year was going to be completely different. I had a full-time job I couldn't go home from and relax. I was becoming a single parent for three weeks. A job, I must admit, I wasn't completely looking forward to.

It's not that I don't love my daughter. And yes I am a stay-at-home mom so 8 to 10 hours a day it is just me and her. But when the hubs is at Garmin, he comes home from work and I get a sometimes much needed break. And I was about to embark on three weeks where there would be no breaks. I would never really completely relax. At night I headed towards bed after putting her down at 8, knowing that I needed my rest. Knowing that if I wasn't well-rested then I was more lately to get frustrated easier which would make for longer days and much less pleasant three weeks. Nap times I tried to get things done, but sometimes I was so tired I just ended up crashing on the couch for a not so restful nap.

It was three weeks where I had to keep things moving as if Rob was still here. Honestly, Addison probably didn't notice much at first other than mama was doing her bedtimes instead of daddy. But as time went on, we both started noticing his absence. As the week went on, I would hear Addie talking her crib after a nap or in the mornings, which wasn't that usual. But now she was saying dada. And as the three weeks continued, dada started coming out more and more when she talked. Of course I noticed his absence. There is always an unsettling silence that falls over the house when he isn't around, forcing me to sleep with the TV on just so I don't hear every single noise in the night.

The silence only grew over the last two weeks of annual training. During the first week we were able to talk on the phone after he was done with his courses each night, but that couldn't happen during the last two weeks. He was able to send me a text or two almost every night but that is never enough. It's never the same as actually hearing his voice.

The second week, Addie and I packed up the car - me doing all of the packing - and headed down to Mt. Vernon to visit my sister, brother-in-law and two nieces. And that was a great visit. It really helped move that week along. I got a bit of a break and we were able to get out of the house, which always helps. Plus Addie had a great time playing with her cousins. The third [and last] week, we went into Independence to stay with my parents for a couple days, again for another break and just to visit. It was a great visit - if only my car was running (but that's another story for another day) - and Addie had a great time.

Being able to go out and visit family really helped move on the weeks along because when we were home, all there was was the silence and the routine which made Rob's absence even more obvious. But clearly, since I'm writing about it now, we survived. We made it through. Rob is back to his normal 9-5, as are Addie and myself. And we are so relieved to have him again, to get back to our normal routine as a family.