Of mice and men...

...or How the Military can mess with your plans.

First off, grad school is looking less and less overwhelming, as the days pass, and especially so after this last weekend of playing catch-up. I am no longer BEHIND, and finally feel like I actually might be able to keep up. Believe me, this is a BEAUTIFUL thing!!

Today is the second day of school for the kids for the year. Everyone survived their first day back, and mom and dad survived signing away the forests of Virginia...seriously, how many reams of paper did they just waste to send all of that crap home....and that was just for MY children. Oh, but my house was SO nice and quiet yesterday. I got a LOT accomplished!!

My work schedule has had to be adjusted, of late, to accommodate the addition of classes to the schedule. It also means (*ahem*) that my husband thinks he can just add things for me to do, on a whim, and because I work from home I *should* be able to just go and do, at his bidding. Yeah, that creates a little tension in our house from time to time.

Yesterday he called me up to ask if I was *free* at 1:00 tomorrow (today). He is almost at the end of his tour with his current command, and there is to be an awards ceremony this afternoon, and the command wants me to attend. Of course, I said I could be there...I want to be supportive of him!!

But, this end-of-command brings up the real change of plans. The end of one set of orders means the beginning of another. Which means transition. Change. I don't do change...or rather, I don't LIKE change. And this one is a doozie. Jason is separating from this command on the 15th, and will have approximately a month off, after which he reports to his new command, to head out for training before leaving for what is affectionately (*insert sarcasm font*) known as the sandbox. For a year.

Now, I know a lot of people who have been down this route repeatedly. And lived through it. And their families survived. But the last time Jason was deployed was 8 years ago - and that was only for four months. I'm out of practice. And I'm more than a little nervous.

There's a LOT to deal with on the homefront, when there are as many people in the house as we have. It would be NICE to have a second driver while he's gone....but the oldest is terrified of driving, even though she could have gotten her license way back in February. And she is in marching band...which means practices and competitions and football games. And the next two are in band at the middle school....and one is going to be in the Art Club. And then there are activities for the three in elementary school.

Plus, Frances is still dealing with the numbness in her arms and hands, and after a year the doctors still haven't figured out why. All they can tell us is that her nerves are healthy, and everything looks normal. So we have periodic doctors' visits, more testing, and twice-weekly physical therapy appointments.

And then there is my school. And work. And church. See why I'm a little nervous about his leaving? There's only one of me. And there is enough to keep two or three of us busy. And even for all of my advertising and begging, no one has found my clone, or stepped forward to offer their services as my administrative assistant (volunteer position, of course!).

So, that leaves me in the same place as many other military spouses...preparing for being a married single parent, and not knowing how I'm going to be able to do it. I know that I have wonderful friends, and a GREAT church family, and I KNOW that I can call on them for emergencies, and they'll rally. The emergencies are not what concern me so much. It's the dailiness that gets to me. The trying to figure out how to juggle everything, without dropping any of the important stuff. (which is already happening - who am I kidding...I forget stuff ALL the time...even if it IS written in my day planner!).

So, now I am off...I have work to get done before heading to his awards ceremony. And laundry. And dishes. You know...all of those things that have to get done anyway....