An Early Christmas

Alan is home! Yay!

On Thursday morning I got up early and went with Sgt. Freeman to the VA/National Guard offices in Newington to get my ID, came home, did some errands, and some general running around town and then went up to Bradley to pick Alan up. I was so anxious I could hardly sit still, and I definitely couldn’t read the book I’d brought, so I ended up listening to the conversation of a woman who was there picking up her son for his own Exodus and a man who had been in the Army in Vietnam. There was another guy there in ACU’s (camo uniform) waiting for a connecting flight for his trip home, but he really didn’t talk much. Then again, neither did I. At about 5:20 I just couldn’t sit anymore so I got up and started pacing. LOL… I wandered over to the exit from the terminal where every passenger has to come out and stood around bouncing and straining to see past the rows of scanning equipment to the people coming out. Alan finally did appear with one of his buddies from his platoon, who discreetly disappeared as soon as he saw me. Then again, we passed him as we were walking through the baggage claim area and he looked a bit wrapped up in his own welcome. I could hardly stop hugging Alan long enough to get to the car.

It was strange seeing him in his uniform, even though I’ve seen pictures online. The reality of it is very different. It even changes the way he smells, although it seems that it’s just part of the uniform itself and not any change in his essential Alan-ness. His hair is all but gone and I absolutely hate it, but there’s not much I can do about that. He’s just as skinny as he ever was, but his body is a lot harder and more defined. And he eats a ridiculous amount of food these days. He made me an "Army breakfast" this morning and I didn’t even come close to finishing it. Scrambled eggs, a waffle, turkey bacon, oatmeal, a pop-tart, and an apple. He also usually has a hash brown or two and another piece of fruit. I made it through the eggs, one slice of turkey bacon, half the oatmeal, and an apple before I gave the rest to him, and I doubt I’ll be eating again until mid-afternoon.

In a way, I’m nervous about having him home. He’s here for so short a time that I want to be sure he’s not disappointed. And I’ve gotten so used to being on my own that I’m having to readjust to having him here. I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like after he’s done with training. It’s going to be a lot longer before his next visit. And deployments? Ugh.

At the moment, Alan is outside shoveling our walkway and driveway. The snow seems to have stopped, but it’s going to take awhile for the town to dig out I think. I am glad that the snow waited until pretty late in the day yesterday, and even better, that it waited until Alan was home to shovel. Hehehe. But it means we’ve gotten a lot done. We did some Christmas shopping, took Zach out for a birthday dinner, got our Christmas tree and Alan got caught up on all the internet things he’s missed at the library while I decorated the tree. I still need to get the laundry done and do some shopping for little prezzies for the kids. Technically, Alan could do the laundry tomorrow while I’m at work, since he’s taking my car anyway, but I think he’d rather not, so we may have to brave the roads later. I was going to go to Target for stickers and little gift bags, but Stop & Shop is a lot closer. Gina texted me that she was going to get the kids little Dr. Seuss board books at Costco, so I think a sheet of stickers would round out the gifts pretty well. I’ll see what else they have. Maybe little boxes of raisins, since I know all of the kids can have them.

I’ve been very good about going to the gym and I think at the rate I’m going I could be down another 15 pounds by the time Alan graduates from Basic. Then he’s got 14 weeks of AIT in Arizona where it seems likely that I won’t see him. I mean, he’ll have weekends off here and there, but unless they coincide with a long weekend for me or he knows about them more than two weeks in advance so I can ask for time off, I don’t think I’ll be able to get out there. So there’s another 3 months worth of exercise. Another 30 lbs? Maybe. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Lisette and Erin and I went out for coffee on Wednesday night, which was quite a lot of fun. Lisette did some googling and found out that SBC does karaoke on Thursday nights, so we may end up there sometime soon. I would like to do karaoke at least once. It’s also on my list of 101 Things, so that’d be another goal to knock off the list. It was just really nice to be out with friends, especially after all the drama.

Lisa has determined that I am in charge of dessert for our Christmas pot-luck. Alan thinks it’s because I once made a seriously excellent dessert and have been in charge of sweets ever since. There are a couple recipes I would have liked to try out of my "Witch in the Kitchen" cookbook, but c’est la vie. I am going to try to make a traditional plum pudding, but I’ll probably bring a pie or two as well. I’ve never had plum pudding and I doubt very many other people will have either. It should be fun though, and it’ll be a nice change of pace from Alan’s grandparent’s house. It’s very dim and dark and tiny, which makes their larger gatherings a bit intimidating. I usually just end up squished next to Alan or Zach, too worried about stepping on everyone to get up unless I really really have to pee, which is another intimidating experience, as their bathroom door does not shut all the way. I like to wedge a towel under the door to feel a little more secure. Still, there are worse ways to spend an evening than wedged between two very tall, good-looking guys. Maybe not everyone would agree with me about Alan’s looks(very Eastern European), but Zach has grown up into a total hottie. LOL!

Anyway, I suppose getting dressed would be a good thing. I still have to straighten my hair and my toes are cold, so I think thicker socks may be in order. TTFN.

~Liz