My mission for Summer 2009: Survive almost 3 months of boiling heat with both kids at
home all day, every day; without selling either child on e&ay. Do so without going bankrupt.
My strategy: a little
something I'll call the reverse deployment.
That's when the family members leave and the service-member holds down
the home-front ('cause they still have a job to do, you know).
The kids and I loaded up the car and hit the road. Except for the 1st week, when
[*gasp*] Stretch actually took leave and joined us, we were on the road and
Stretch was left behind to man the home-front.
As it turns out, he didn't enjoy being the one left at home. I can understand that. I don't particularly enjoy it, either.
We actually reverse deployed
twice. The first time was for 4
weeks. It started with a 3-day drive
across 6 states to my mother's home. The
first night we stayed at a military installation: great suite and even better price. The 2nd night we used Stretch's
hotel reward points for a free night.
(Guess all those TAD trips had a good side to them after all.) Stretch helped drive half-way across the
country and then flew home (or redeployed) on Father's Day. (Hm-m, that might not have sent quite the
right message.) The kids and I stayed
another week while the girls took swim lessons.
When it was time to go, I drove a day and a half across 3 states,
spending the night at another military installation, before reaching my aunt's
home. After reconnecting with extended
family for a few days, we hit the road again to join a fellow military spouse
for the 4th of July. We only
had to cross into the next state this time and it took only half a day. Despite not having laid eyes on
each other in almost 5 years, we picked right up where we'd left off. Even the kids bonded quickly even though only
one of the five had any memories of the others.
Because her husband had taken Reserve orders and was gone for the summer,
I talked her into making the 10- hour drive to follow me home so our kids could
continue to entertain each other. The
fact that we hadn't seen each other in years had nothing to do with it.
We had about a week's break before reverse deploying
again. This time it was only for 2
weeks. I drove for 12 hours in one day to
get to my sister's house. By the way, I
don't recommend this on 4 hours of sleep.
A few days later, I drove another 3-1/2 hours to take the girls to my
in-laws, where they would stay for almost a week. We went a day early so the girls and I could
attend my mother-in-law's annual family reunion. It was the first time we'd attended. In 11 years of marriage, Stretch and I had
never been able to attend due to distance.
And the first time I attended (this year), I did so without him. Typical.
The kids and I made the drive back home earlier this
week. This time, I made reservations at
yet another military installation part-way back to avoid another 12 hour
drive. For the first time, I was wishing
my oldest (she's 8) was old enough to drive.
The summer flew by while the kids and I spent time with family and friends. We're waiting to hear teacher assignments and I've finished
buying school supplies. School will
start next week. The summer is drawing
to a close and the mission was accomplished.
Just don't ask me to drive anywhere anytime soon. Oh, and if anyone has seen my sanity, could
you send it back to me?
