Victorious Not Nauseous

This time last year, we were gearing up for what we thought was to be a 6-month deployment. Those in the military know, sometimes the plans get changed. Six months turned into a whole year deal with a 6-week “home port visit” over the holidays.

What a difference a year makes. Here is some of what this last year has taught me:

• I am capable. Of many things. All I must do is put one foot in front of the other and try.
• Prayer is essential.
• Writing is therapy
• Exercise and eating healthfully help me in more areas than just physical fitness
• I can read the same books over and over to the kids and it doesn’t matter. We  can read Dr. Seuss, Llama Llama, and Fly Guy countless times, they still love it.
• Good days are just a tad bit more satisfying as heads hit pillows and I think, “This one was a good one”.
• Single parenting is not for the weak!
• Kids are stronger than we give them credit for. They can also do more than we think. We just have to be willing to take the extra time to teach them.
• I dislike northern winters
• Coffee is my friend. My very, very good friend.
• Friends and family are crucial to sanity
• Venting is cathartic
• Funny things happen when you live with preschoolers
• Great neighbors make the days easier
• Plans and goals are great, needed even. So is spontenaity and resiliency.
• You will go insane if you do not get a good amount of sleep, coffee, and/or adult conversation
• You will drive your kids insane if you do not get a good amount of sleep, coffee, and/or adult conversation
• Asking for help blesses both the giver and the receiver
• I would die without a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at the circus that is my life
• You can connect with people you just met
• Random people telling you you are doing a good job can make your day.
• People taking the time to thank me for my “service” (or our sacrifice), or ask me to pass on thanks to Eric, makes me choke up. Every time.
• No matter how many “I am woman, hear me roar” moments I may have, I still hate spiders and will pay others if I have to, to come kill them for me.
• When I start being intentional about joy and gratefulness, there are more things for which I am grateful. You will find what you seek, in abundance
• My kids are two of the funniest people I know
• My kids have been two of my greatest teachers
• I miss taking a long hot bath alone. I miss going to the bathroom alone.
• No matter how much time passes apart, I love my husband more and more each day. If anything deployment proves the adage that “absence makes the heart grow fonder”.

As my favorite spin instructor used to say at the beginning of class, “We want you leaving here feeling victorious, not nauseous!” I started the year feeling extremely nauseous. I’m ending it feeling victorious.

And very ready for shore duty!