I got messages from Keith this morning. Apparently, he works night shift, so he's on "my" schedule, ha! He said he was out of the loop, but he messaged a friend to find out if they were tracking the band.
A little bit later, Keith messaged again to tell me that the 1ID guys were tracking Scott and his team. That was a relief to me. Keith let me know that they (the 1ID guys) would be giving up their billeting huts directly to the 101st, so they already had accommodations lined up. Another relief, knowing that Scott would be able to get settled in quickly and help establish a routine for us.
I dropped the kids off to school and headed to the dentist to get those fillings drilled out and replaced. Took a good while to get my mouth numbed (3 rounds of shots, yikes!). I felt a bit of it on a tender nerve (I'd had concerns about needing a root canal on that tooth years ago), but the doctor said I didn't need one, thankfully!! An hour later, I left, with my left side so numb that I bit my cheek way too many times! I headed to Kohl's to pick up some things, then headed home. I was excited to receive another message from Keith!
He told me he had been able to get away from work for a bit and met up with Scott and the other 101st guys at the airstrip. The 1ID folks were taking them to the huts, and then to chow. That was some good news.
Of course, now, we are in the waiting game. I know that until Scott can get internet, or find a wifi hotspot, I won't hear from him. I'm hoping he can get that all taken care of quickly. I miss seeing his face, hearing his voice.
The rest of the day has moved remarkably slow. Got the kids from school, helped with homework. RCE had Family Math Night at Publix, so we headed out there for Scotty to do some fun math/grocery stuff. I picked up a few things we needed, and Scotty got to scan all the items when we checked out (they put aside 2 registers just for our school to do this!). We picked up some Chinese food for dinner since it was late. After we ate, the kids showered and are now in bed. I'm just trying to finish this blog post, so I can hit the sack too. I am tired. I won't sleep well until I know we have a routine of talk time set up.
It's not going to be easy. I'm not going to lie. I'm strong, but this is a hard hit to the gut. Sometimes, I just cry. I get angry when people tell me, "oh, it'll go fast, keep busy, don't worry". I get angry at the weekend whiners...those whose husbands are gone for a few days and they act like their world has fallen apart. I've been doing this for SIXTEEN MONTHS...and have probably that much to go. But then, *I* feel selfish, when I think about some of my friends who are single parents by NO CHOICE of their own. Those whose husbands passed away...and I get angry at ME.
In the end, I will be okay...I'll have my bad days, I'll have my good days. I've set a few goals for myself for the year. I pray that I will make them.
ILY24752
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Catching up...
In an effort to try to blog every day while Scott is deployed, I'm going to post a "catch up" post.
December 2012:
Scott came home on block leave. This was back-to-back with his pre-deployment leave, so he was able to spend an entire month home with us. It was WONDERFUL! We spent time just being a family again. Doing the regular, every day family things...including arguing here and there. But because we've been married for 14 years, we both know how to deal with the arguments a bit better.
January 2013:
Scott left on January 13 to head back to Ft. Campbell. There were rumors that the deployment was being pushed back and this worried both of us. Thankfully, when he got there, he discovered it wasn't true (at least not for him). He is scheduled to be part of the ADVON (advanced party) so he'll be one of the first to go. Scheduled deployment is tentatively 1FEB, but that date is subject to change. On January 17, the kids had a half day, so I picked them up from school and we headed out to Ft. Campbell for a long weekend. This will be the last time we see Scott before he deploys. I didn't care what we did, as long as we did it as a family. It was quality time and I am blessed and thankful that we were able to go and be with him. The rest of this month ends up quite busy for Scott, with training, meetings, packing, repacking, packing one more time. On our end, we come home and try to start establishing the routine we had before the holidays. Scott lets me know he's got a definite deployment date, 4FEB. Now I KNOW it's real.
4FEB:
Scott called me from the motor pool, where they gathered for family time. I am wistful and wishing I was there to say goodbye, but it would have been hard on both of us. I'm thankful he's ready to go, since it seems like we've been preparing for this since the day he left home to go to Ft. Campbell, back in 2011. I got phone calls throughout the day. Scott let me know when they were about to leave, at about 3:00. They were flying to Cherry Point to pick up Marines. He called me again from Cherry Point, around 8:00 and they were flying out to Germany.
5FEB:
I didn't hear from him early when he landed in Germany, as it was around 4 or 5 EST, but he did call just as they were prepping to fly out from Frankfurt. He called on his cell....OUCH. That's gonna be a hefty call! It was less than a minute, though, and I'm glad I knew when he was headed out! They left Germany around 7:00 a.m. EST...about noon Germany time. I didn't know where they were headed, or how long it would be before I heard from him again. I can honestly say, I was in tears. It's hard NOT to worry about the man you have loved for well over 16 years!
I have a special ringtone for when Scott calls me. It's one of those weird, digital voices that says, "your husband is attempting to reach you on your cellular device"...it's always nice to hear that go off randomly in my day. After his last call before he left Germany, I realized I won't be hearing that again for a long time. Wow. That hit hard. The random and unexpected tears flowed.
The kids and I had dentist appointments, so I got them out of school a bit early. Dentist went well for both of them: no cavities! 12 years for Hannah, almost 9 for Scotty. Great teeth, those two. For me...well, some of my fillings are needing replaced. Not looking forward to that, ugh!
Around 7:00, I heard the ringtone. I was finishing my supper...reading the paper. It was a FaceTime contact! I was terribly excited, and when we connected I exuberantly exclaimed, "Hello, my darling!!!" Apparently, all the folks around him heard that! He was in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. They had a wifi hotspot in the chow hall. What a blessing that was! It was loud, jerky, and a poor connection, but I still got to see him and know he was safe!
6FEB:
9:00 a.m., I got a FaceTime request from Scott. It's now night time in Kyrgyzstan. He and his guys slept for several hours and were getting a late dinner. I'm glad I got to talk to him. He doesn't know how long he'll be there...could be several days. For his sake, I hope it's not too long. He said he would try to let me know when they're headed out. We made tentative plans to chat in the evening (a.m. for him).
The kids and I had a busy Wednesday. I did my regular Wednesday volunteer work at church (First Baptist Church of Lexington) where I print all the music for the orchestra, clean and reset the pit, then usually put the songs up into ProPresenter for the big screens on Sunday. Because it was an early release day, I couldn't get it all done before I went to get Scotty from the bus stop. He and I went to Moe's for the RCE fundraiser day, then we headed to the neighborhood clubhouse for a "Half Day Party" that my friend Amy Jo always organizes. Hannah and her friends met us there when they got home from school. The kids played and had a good time, till about 3:30.
We headed home, and no sooner did we get there, then we turned around and headed back out for Hannah's 4:30 flute lesson at FBC. While she was having her lesson, I finished off the last of my work putting the music up in ProPresenter. We ate at church for Wednesday Night Supper, then headed off to our activities: Scotty to DiscipleZone, Hannah to The Fallout, and me to orchestra rehearsal. As we were getting ready to leave at 8:00, I got an iMessage from Scott asking if I was ready to chat. We headed home, and got in a nice FaceTime session. Both kids got to talk for several minutes. Scott let me know he thought they'd be leaving that same day (while it was 8:30 p.m. for me, it was 7:30 a.m. the next day for him!). He said he'd let me know more if he knew.
Around 11:30 p.m. he sent me a text telling me they were getting ready to head out. I sent a message to our friend Keith, who is currently in Afghanistan (the 101st is replacing the 1ID) to let him know the 101st guys were heading out, and to ask him to let me know when they got there. Then I went to bed, though I didn't sleep well; the not knowing is hard on me!
December 2012:
Scott came home on block leave. This was back-to-back with his pre-deployment leave, so he was able to spend an entire month home with us. It was WONDERFUL! We spent time just being a family again. Doing the regular, every day family things...including arguing here and there. But because we've been married for 14 years, we both know how to deal with the arguments a bit better.
January 2013:
Scott left on January 13 to head back to Ft. Campbell. There were rumors that the deployment was being pushed back and this worried both of us. Thankfully, when he got there, he discovered it wasn't true (at least not for him). He is scheduled to be part of the ADVON (advanced party) so he'll be one of the first to go. Scheduled deployment is tentatively 1FEB, but that date is subject to change. On January 17, the kids had a half day, so I picked them up from school and we headed out to Ft. Campbell for a long weekend. This will be the last time we see Scott before he deploys. I didn't care what we did, as long as we did it as a family. It was quality time and I am blessed and thankful that we were able to go and be with him. The rest of this month ends up quite busy for Scott, with training, meetings, packing, repacking, packing one more time. On our end, we come home and try to start establishing the routine we had before the holidays. Scott lets me know he's got a definite deployment date, 4FEB. Now I KNOW it's real.
4FEB:
Scott called me from the motor pool, where they gathered for family time. I am wistful and wishing I was there to say goodbye, but it would have been hard on both of us. I'm thankful he's ready to go, since it seems like we've been preparing for this since the day he left home to go to Ft. Campbell, back in 2011. I got phone calls throughout the day. Scott let me know when they were about to leave, at about 3:00. They were flying to Cherry Point to pick up Marines. He called me again from Cherry Point, around 8:00 and they were flying out to Germany.
5FEB:
I didn't hear from him early when he landed in Germany, as it was around 4 or 5 EST, but he did call just as they were prepping to fly out from Frankfurt. He called on his cell....OUCH. That's gonna be a hefty call! It was less than a minute, though, and I'm glad I knew when he was headed out! They left Germany around 7:00 a.m. EST...about noon Germany time. I didn't know where they were headed, or how long it would be before I heard from him again. I can honestly say, I was in tears. It's hard NOT to worry about the man you have loved for well over 16 years!
I have a special ringtone for when Scott calls me. It's one of those weird, digital voices that says, "your husband is attempting to reach you on your cellular device"...it's always nice to hear that go off randomly in my day. After his last call before he left Germany, I realized I won't be hearing that again for a long time. Wow. That hit hard. The random and unexpected tears flowed.
The kids and I had dentist appointments, so I got them out of school a bit early. Dentist went well for both of them: no cavities! 12 years for Hannah, almost 9 for Scotty. Great teeth, those two. For me...well, some of my fillings are needing replaced. Not looking forward to that, ugh!
Around 7:00, I heard the ringtone. I was finishing my supper...reading the paper. It was a FaceTime contact! I was terribly excited, and when we connected I exuberantly exclaimed, "Hello, my darling!!!" Apparently, all the folks around him heard that! He was in Manas, Kyrgyzstan. They had a wifi hotspot in the chow hall. What a blessing that was! It was loud, jerky, and a poor connection, but I still got to see him and know he was safe!
6FEB:
9:00 a.m., I got a FaceTime request from Scott. It's now night time in Kyrgyzstan. He and his guys slept for several hours and were getting a late dinner. I'm glad I got to talk to him. He doesn't know how long he'll be there...could be several days. For his sake, I hope it's not too long. He said he would try to let me know when they're headed out. We made tentative plans to chat in the evening (a.m. for him).
The kids and I had a busy Wednesday. I did my regular Wednesday volunteer work at church (First Baptist Church of Lexington) where I print all the music for the orchestra, clean and reset the pit, then usually put the songs up into ProPresenter for the big screens on Sunday. Because it was an early release day, I couldn't get it all done before I went to get Scotty from the bus stop. He and I went to Moe's for the RCE fundraiser day, then we headed to the neighborhood clubhouse for a "Half Day Party" that my friend Amy Jo always organizes. Hannah and her friends met us there when they got home from school. The kids played and had a good time, till about 3:30.
We headed home, and no sooner did we get there, then we turned around and headed back out for Hannah's 4:30 flute lesson at FBC. While she was having her lesson, I finished off the last of my work putting the music up in ProPresenter. We ate at church for Wednesday Night Supper, then headed off to our activities: Scotty to DiscipleZone, Hannah to The Fallout, and me to orchestra rehearsal. As we were getting ready to leave at 8:00, I got an iMessage from Scott asking if I was ready to chat. We headed home, and got in a nice FaceTime session. Both kids got to talk for several minutes. Scott let me know he thought they'd be leaving that same day (while it was 8:30 p.m. for me, it was 7:30 a.m. the next day for him!). He said he'd let me know more if he knew.
Around 11:30 p.m. he sent me a text telling me they were getting ready to head out. I sent a message to our friend Keith, who is currently in Afghanistan (the 101st is replacing the 1ID) to let him know the 101st guys were heading out, and to ask him to let me know when they got there. Then I went to bed, though I didn't sleep well; the not knowing is hard on me!
Weclome!
I've titled this blog 24/7/52. Because it's about a deployment. And how I miss my husband 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks of the year. I know most folks would put 24/7/365, but that is technically incorrect, and I know my husband wouldn't like it...and I don't either!
I've been a blogger for a long time, but I've never had to blog about a deployment. There's a lot of backstory, though.
My husband is CW4 Scott MacDonald. He has been in the US Army for 20+ years. He started out as a trumpet player. He did that for 10 years. (we met somewhere around his 4th year in). 12 years ago, he decided to become a Warrant Officer, and is now a Bandmaster for the US Army Band field. He loves his job. I love what he does too.
A few years ago, after living in Lexington, SC for almost 3 years, he discovered he was due for reassignment. (sadly, in the band field, they don't offer the "family stability" like they do in the other fields...nowadays, you can stay at a post for 5 or more years!) After a lot of discussion, we decided that it would be best if he took an assignment to Ft. Campbell. The kicker was that the kids and I would stay in Lexington. We had a home we loved, a church home and family, and the kids loved their school. There were financial concerns, and we also knew that a deployment was most likely to happen. So...in August 2012, we became a geographically separated family.
It hasn't been easy. Scott's visits home were usually monthly, though, from time to time, there were "long stretches"...and those were usually 6 weeks or more. His visits home were usually only 4 days. It's hard to cram "being a family" into 4 days. We did our best to maintain normalcy. We did have block leave time in the summer and at Christmas. 15 days of blissful family. Together.
Separation can be hard on a family. It's hard for the spouse "at home" who is trying to hold the family together and maintain some sense of normalcy, routine, rhythm of life. It's hard for the spouse "away" who misses out on so much of the family. Kids grow, teeth fall out, report cards are issued. So many little things that we take for granted...these are all missed by the spouse who isn't there to see it all happen.
And separation can wreak havoc on your relationship. If there were any cracks, any fissures, any doubts, or lack of trust...a separation can make that even worse! But if your relationship is strong, grounded, and filled with love and trust, nothing will shake it.
So...this begins my deployment blog. After a 16 months of "stateside deployment", Scott prepared to go to a God-forsaken country to protect OUR country.
I've been a blogger for a long time, but I've never had to blog about a deployment. There's a lot of backstory, though.
My husband is CW4 Scott MacDonald. He has been in the US Army for 20+ years. He started out as a trumpet player. He did that for 10 years. (we met somewhere around his 4th year in). 12 years ago, he decided to become a Warrant Officer, and is now a Bandmaster for the US Army Band field. He loves his job. I love what he does too.
A few years ago, after living in Lexington, SC for almost 3 years, he discovered he was due for reassignment. (sadly, in the band field, they don't offer the "family stability" like they do in the other fields...nowadays, you can stay at a post for 5 or more years!) After a lot of discussion, we decided that it would be best if he took an assignment to Ft. Campbell. The kicker was that the kids and I would stay in Lexington. We had a home we loved, a church home and family, and the kids loved their school. There were financial concerns, and we also knew that a deployment was most likely to happen. So...in August 2012, we became a geographically separated family.
It hasn't been easy. Scott's visits home were usually monthly, though, from time to time, there were "long stretches"...and those were usually 6 weeks or more. His visits home were usually only 4 days. It's hard to cram "being a family" into 4 days. We did our best to maintain normalcy. We did have block leave time in the summer and at Christmas. 15 days of blissful family. Together.
Separation can be hard on a family. It's hard for the spouse "at home" who is trying to hold the family together and maintain some sense of normalcy, routine, rhythm of life. It's hard for the spouse "away" who misses out on so much of the family. Kids grow, teeth fall out, report cards are issued. So many little things that we take for granted...these are all missed by the spouse who isn't there to see it all happen.
And separation can wreak havoc on your relationship. If there were any cracks, any fissures, any doubts, or lack of trust...a separation can make that even worse! But if your relationship is strong, grounded, and filled with love and trust, nothing will shake it.
So...this begins my deployment blog. After a 16 months of "stateside deployment", Scott prepared to go to a God-forsaken country to protect OUR country.
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