I can't believe that my TWO WEEKS of Christmas vacation in Pennsylvania have already come and gone! This was an interesting vacation with a tiny little rollercoaster of thoughts and emotions throughout. I suppose I should just start at the beginning.
After securing my dogs at the kennel and locking up my house for the duration of my vacation, I was on my way to Pennsylvania. That's when the anxiousness of preparations went away and the excitement to arrive at my family home took its place. My plane landed an entire hour earlier than expected, however, getting my bags and getting out of the Dulles parking lot took TWO HOURS and truly tried my patience. Then, of course, I had to sit in the car for another two hours before FINALLY arriving at my parents' house. Whew. I felt a little bit like I would explode from the anticipation.
But, alas, I arrived. The very first thing I did was gorge myself on a wonderful homecooked meal - during which I ate a grand total of TWO baked potatoes. No, I'm not exaggerating. Yes, I agree, it's disgusting. BUT, in my defense, after living on frozen meals for the past several months, the food just tasted so good that I could not resist.
For once, I actually felt like I had enough time to do everything I wanted to do while home. I spent quality time with my parents & siblings, enjoyed playing with my nephew, met my brother's soon-to-be fiance (I hope), spent time with friends, visted with extended family, and also had plenty of time to simply R-E-L-A-X. Oh, and of course, I ate TONS of amazing food (too much, actually) AND received wonderful presents. I really couldn't ask for a better Christmas vacation..
EXCEPT for one major detail.
Hubby was NOT there.
And, you know, I've gotten pretty darn used to Hubby NOT being around. However, I was definitely feeling his absence during this holiday season. He loves my family's Christmas - from the presents to the food to the games - he enjoys it all. For the most part, it was just a little sentimental like, "Aww, I sure wish Hubby could be here to play this game" or "Aww, this is Hubby's favorite meal" and so on and so forth.
I did get a teeny tiny bit emotional once, though. I'm sure you can guess when...
Oh.. you can't?
Well, I got emotional in CHURCH of course. Which I totally did NOT see coming at all. Which is absolutely the worst part. I was sitting in church, minding my own business when during the intentions the reader mentioned "the military service members who could not be with their families this Christmas", and BAM! Waterworks city. The problem was, once I started I really couldn't stop.
There I was in the middle of a packed row of people in the church blowing air onto my eyes with my mouth trying desperately to hide the fact that I was crying from the tons of people who were sitting around me. I don't think many of them noticed, really. Which was good, because if someone had noticed and given me any sign of comfort, I'm sure it would have made it 100 times worse. I absolutely despise crying in front of people.
For the most part, though, this Christmas was a good one. On New Years I got to chat with Hubby online for HIS midnight (which was 4:00 pm Eastern Time). We even gave each other a little New Years Kiss with one of those kissy smiley faces on skype. It was certainly a New Years kiss to remember. :)
And, now here I am back in San Diego. My dogs are safe at home (though I did make an emergency trip to the Vet this morning because my Husky's eye had NOT gotten any better) and believe it or not, my house did NOT explode while I was gone. Whew. What a relief.
I have to say, even though it's always hard to say goodbye to my family, every time I return to San Diego after a long trip away it seems more and more like I'm returning Home.
I have high hopes for the year of 2009. In my old age, I've been realizing more that the unknown future is something to look forward to rather than to fear. I can't wait to see what 2009 will have in store for me. The only thing I know for sure, is that one of my first and best memories of 2009 will be Hubby's homecoming.
Two more months until I can say Hasta La Vista to this deployment. My official countdown has begun. :)
Happy 2009! May it be a year filled with lots of life's little surprises.
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