Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Deployment Day +95

I know you may look and think I've lost track of my days, but here in Germany it's already past midnight so we're officially on day 95 of this deployment. It's going by tremendously fast, I'm amazed really.

Chad called me today during naptime. Our 2 yr old thinks anytime we get into bed is playtime...party time baby. To say I get flustered,frustrated, and just plain angry during this (it's truly become it too) FIGHT is putting it lightly. Well, Chad called and could hear him singing, talking, and just making noise in general. I was about to the end of my rope. Chad asked me to go into their bedroom and put him on speaker phone and he proceded to talk him to lay down NOW. What's that stinker do.......

"ok Daddy, nigh-night". Part of me wanted to celebrate, the other part wanted to strangle that child! God love him is all I can say. I told Chad, "that's just not right" lol. I have to say THANK GOD that even with him in Iraq, he's still so willing and just truly desires to step up and parent, even thousands of miles away. If that doesn't tell you the kind of man Chad is, I don't know what can!

I miss him so much right now. I just really want to feel his arms around me, holding me. Time is going by quickly, but you know it's not quick enough. Everyday without him over all just sucks. I really don't like that word, but it's just the only word I can find in my head tonight to describe this feeling.

He did tell me that the internet cafe that he used to go to and hook up his laptop to and have his webcam on is opening back up!! YES! They redid it, gutted the building. They put the 9 computers back in and now instead of 3 open slots for soldiers to bring in their personal laptops there's 11 slots! (I "might" have those numbers switched around, but I think I got it right!)...so hopefully in the next couple days he'll be able to get in and online and we can all see and hear each other! He also said that in the next couple days (he's hoping for tomorrow) that one of his soldiers is going to carry his digital camera with her and take pictures of him throughout the day, so we can see what he does, what the camp looks like, etc. He already has a lot of pictures to send, but he knows how important it is to us to be able to see HIM in those pictures and if he's the one always behind taking them he can't be in them quite so easily! I'm hoping he can do this tomorrow and maybe tomorrow night if he could get online he could email them! If so, I'll be able to load some up and put them on here!

Chad's been working a lot. He's a little frustrated right now with a couple of his soldiers who have been 2nd guessing him when he tells them to do something (they don't want to do it the way he tells them). Chad's a very humble man, but let me tell you what...he knows his stuff. He knows how to do things RIGHT and how to be able to get them done as quickly as possible, without taking shortcuts, etc. Well these two soldiers managed to make a task that if they'd done it Chad's way would have taken them max 1 hr he said, possibly less. They didn't think his way would be faster so they did it another way and almost 3 hrs later they finished up. This is what they do there...these tasks. They rarely leave camp which is nice, truly helps with the whole knots in the stomach issue, but at the same time why anyone would opt to do a task for 3 hrs vs 2 hrs less is beyond me. He said they've done this a couple other times and so he's finally told them that they're going to be working together, because he's not going to waste his time doing things the hard way when he's been doing this job, knows his job, does it well, and can get it done correctly and faster than they do. So for now him and his other soldier (the one who'll be taking pictures) are working together and the other two will get their orders from Chad and if they want to do it his way or their way, he's leaving it up to them.

Now, see it's a good thing I'm not in the military, well not like he is anyways. I'd have chewed them up and spit them out, told them MY WAY OR NO WAY and since it was an order...it would be my way. I just have so littler tolerance for arrogance and stupidity and it sounds like these two have both going on right now. I told Chad to pull rank on thier butts. He said if it was really a big deal he would, but so far the tasks are still getting done and all they're really doing is taking away from their own personal time. Of course to me what it says is that Chad and his soldier are probably doing twice as many tasks as these other two are, because they're being so foolish. Chad's a hard worker though, and he does love his job. It's amazing really. Although he's frustrated with these two, he still said "they're not bad soldiers, just making foolish choices". Good man I have!

Oh before I forget!! Chad has a slightly different address now. If you're someone who is or wants to send Chad  a letter or package please email me (especially if you already have his address). The way things have been is that all the mail is flown into the camp that he's at, but since it's just been him and his 3 soldiers the mail personel would send the whole companies mail down to where the rest of them are, then his company would sort through all the mail and they'd have to send a convoy back up to them with their mail...so sometimes he could have packages that had actually gotten to his camp 1-2 weeks before he ever actually had them in his hands. Well, now he has an address for the basecamp he's at, so when the mail arrives there he'll get it immediately! Yahoo!

He's recieved some packages. One was from a John and Judy (I can't recall the last name he gave me) it was over 40 lbs, had tons of snacks in there...if this came from you, PLEASE email me (My3gifts@aol.com) so I can figure out where in the world this came from. I'm pretty sure he said the address said Texas on it too! Either way, he said the package was AWESOME! He's shared everything in it and everyone's loving all the goodies!

I can not tell you how amazing all of you are who's been sending him care packages! The kindness means so much to Chad and me too. Tonight when I went to pick up my own mail, there was a package that had came to me, that's being shipped onto Chad...it was Popcorn! :) Betty that was you right? Well, let me tell you if I had no conscience I'd have kept that wonderful smelling treat! LOL But...they're going to ship it onto Iraq  (it had my zip code instead of Chads, which I have no doubt is my fault for giving the incorrect one). The mail room is going to hold onto his package until tomorrow when I go up there though and they'll put his new address on it and it'll get to him sooner!

God Bless all of you and have a wonderful day!

Sunday, January 29, 2006

Deployment Day +93: Never Forget

           Never forget the Ultimate Sacrafice some soldiers make.

                             

*  Artist @Gay Talbott Boassy  Artwork used by permission from Leo Licensing LLC*

 

            Never forget the Ultimate Sacrifice some families make.

                             

                 Never forget that these ultimate sacrifices have names.

 

                                 

                      Never forget they have faces, families, memories...

                                    

 

Sean...we'll never forget you. Two years ago you died and we'll never forget you. Chris and kids, we love you. I know missing Sean will never end. Know that we love you and we're here for you, ALWAYS.

  

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Deployment Day +85

It's late and I need to be in bed. I'm getting sick..oh yeah. I know come morning I'm going to want to be sleeping instead of doing anything else (like getting the boys breakfast, getting dressed, getting the boys dressed, going to church)...I'd say I'd skip out on church, but I need to go. I need the accountability, the fellowship, the worship, etc. Of course if I'm feeling really awful I will just have to stay home and hope that I feel better by the time Awana starts, I'd hate to not be there when I know how much I'm needed, plus watching those kids faces light up as they learn bible verses.

Anyways....today I missed chatting with Chad online by 5 minutes...yes 5 whole stinking minutes which means I was parking the van, getting the boys out, getting them scrambled up the stairs...:( We hadn't talked since last Saturday when he called me 2 days ago, which I have no reason to complain about, it just felt like we hadn't talked in quite a while and I missed hearing his voice.

I did write him a long email asking him to write us more hand written letters. I LOVE getting phone calls and getting to chat with him, but I think we all know how great a hand written letter is, he told me that he will. I was able to send him another care package on Thursday too! I sent him 2 containers of buckeyes, the man loves them! I hope they're in decent shape by the time they get to him. I sent him a picture frame that Jacob painted too and some other goodies. I wish so much I could do more for him. I'm going to see if I can find some 5x7 picture frames, he asked for some of them and also some picture albums that can hold up to 5x7.

I wish I had a magical wand to make this deployment easier for him. He misses us so much. He tells me that everytime I hear from him and when we're on the phone I can hear it in his voice. Chad's a man that I don't worry about as far as cheating. Some will tell me I'm naive, but I know this man that I'm married to. I know his history of being cheated on and how he feels about it. If I couldn't trust him, I couldn't respect him the way I do. I feel so much love for this man and wonder what in the world I did to deserve him. He's been so good to me in our nearly 9 yrs of marriage, far better than I deserve a good deal of the time, yet time and time and time again he's supported me as a wife, mother, friend, etc...I have a quick temper, it's something I'm working REALLY, REALLY hard on right now. I know Chad knows I lovehim, but I have to admit I wonder if he has any clue just exactly HOW MUCH. He makes life so much more. He's given me more love than I ever expected to have, more respect than I normally deserve...I don't feel completely whole with him not here.

I'm a pretty independent person, yet something I've discovered is that I depend on Chad so much. I LOVE having a man to take care of well those manly tasks that I've determined are just that in my mind! :) Taking out the trash and recycling, changing light bulbs so I don't have to climb on the chair praying I don't fall or drop the light shade, etc. Life's just better when he's home with us. I know what he's doing is so important and I'm truly proud of him. I still have this amazing peace about him being deployed. Time is stil going by really quite quickly....it doesn't take it away though. I'd prefer my husband home with me. I'd prefer my boys to see Daddy walking in the door every late afternoon vs watching him on tv on the dvd reading them bedtime stories or on the webcam. It's not the same.

I know not a real upbeat entry...but that's what this deployment is for us...not always hard and horrible, but not always easy and light.

I better get to bed.

God Bless

Saturday, January 14, 2006

Deployment Day +78:Missing You

I talked to Chad today, it's always so good to talk to him. He was doing good. When I asked him how he was he said "just so happy to be alive!". I'm so happy he's alive too! He was having an over all good day. He told me that he was told the other day that he may be coming back for R&R in February....he told them "no this is when I'm scheduled" they went and looked and told him he was correct...whew! Now I'd love to see him, but seriously so soon after he left would only make this deployment slow down big time. It's been going by so quickly...I mean look at that up there 78 days he's been gone! Amazing! When he is scheduled for R&R, it's more in the middle of this deployment, and I'm preparing myself that time might feel like it slows down after he's been here and gone again...so I'm making plans! :)

Right now since he'll be home in the spring and the children I'm watching will be gone...I plan to travel! The boys and I are going to hit the road! We have a cell phone so Chad should be able to talk to us, pretty well anytime. We have a prepaid cell phone, so I'll get a few phone cards, although when someone's calling me it doesn't take off minutes...but I want to be safe! :)

 

Chad's been writing a journal and plans to transfer it all to an email and then he'll be sending it to me soon, hopefully. He's been working a lot of very long hour days lately, so free time isn't always there. He's been able to call us more than get online. He said the phone lines have been shorter than the internet ones lately. It seems to go back and forth at different times. He's hoping to be able to get online more soon. I can't complain though, because we get to talk to him in one way or another at least 2 or 3 times a week.

Well...this entry's taken me a few hours to write, mostly because I started it during naptime and it's now bedtime! :)

 

God Bless and thank you to everyone who's sent Chad care packages. He really apperciates it. If you have emailed me asking for idea's for care packages and I haven't gotten back, email me again (I know I say this it seems everytime), I'm forgetful and my mind goes other places and I don't ignore your requests on purpose I promise.

 

God Bless Christy

Thursday, January 5, 2006

Deployment Day +69

Chad is working on writing a big entry!! Yahoo! He's also going to start keeping a daily journal (hand written) and he's going to try once a week to send me an update of his week!

I'm really excited to read what he has to say and I know he is as well! He's recieved quite a few care packages from those of you who read this journal and he truly apperciates them! I want to say THANK YOU to each of you who have sent care packages and said prayers for him. Feel free to email me and I will share his address...just a letter or post card is happily recieved! He really looks forward to the mail, it lights up his day!

I would like to make a suggestion! If any of you have young children, are teachers, or know kids who'd like to do something for some soldiers...you could have them make cards or write letters to Chad and his soldiers. He said that his soldiers and a few of the Marine's have LOVED getting the goodies he's been sent. Soldiers LOVE things from kids, it can be really simple.

I talked to Chad today. He's really suffering from being homesick. He misses us terribly. I send him pictures quite a bit, it helps, yet it also adds to that feeling. It's one of those no win situations. Seeing us brings him joy and heartache. He's been working a lot lately too, going from early early morning until late in the evening, so I know he's really tired. One thing I'm so happy about is that he got a Max Lucado (He's a minister and author) book and it's a very short book, he said he thinks about 100 pages, but that the first day he read 56 pages and today in his spare time he was able to read a few more pages. He said it's been so good and just really hard to put down. I'm going to try to find him some more of his books, since he seems to be an author that he enjoys! I'm actually going to be leading a bible study (PWOC/Protestant Women of Christ) there's at least 4 different studies that go on, and the one I'll be leading is :A Love Worth Giving...I'm excited, a little nervous, but more excited!

Well, I better go. It's getting late and I'm tired!

 

God Bless