I ended up working 60 hours last week thinking dh would be leaving the first few days of September. Dh found out Monday night that he was leaving Thursday. Tuesday we spent the day getting his uniforms ready, Wednesday we spent the day doing the spouse checklist and packing and then went to the family get together b/c dh is leaving for a few months, his sister and her hubby are moving to Florida and everyone wanted to see each before they all left.

Yesterday we went to the Reserve center and got our ID cards. Since Miles is 10, he got his first dependent ID! (That's a huge thing to Navy brats... at least it was when I was young and lived on bases.) We went to lunch together, checked out the AFB exchange and gas prices, and then went to the airport. We waited until dh went to his gate and then went outside on the sidewalk that runs in front of the unloading area, went down to the end where we could see the windows near the gate and we all signed "I love you" to him across the way. We were going to go to the AFB and watch his plane take off (It's right next to the run way) but the traffic was SO horrible that we sat waiting to turn for 10 minutes. There are no traffic lights through Alcoa HWY and during rush hour, you might as well not even try. I kept going straight looking for a spot to turn around but in the rain, it was too much for my nerves. We hit the interstate and headed home. At least now I know to go to McC's and just watch the planes from there.

Dh made it to San Diego last night at 12:30 our time. The boys and I sat up doing a light show in the dark (with a glow stick tied to a string) until dh called. Then we went to bed (and boy did I need the sleep by then!)

This morning I talked to dh... they did all that rushrushrushing to get him out to San Diego and he has a three day weekend! So now he's hanging out waiting until Monday. *grrr* We discussed all the stuff we didn't before. When to call and when not to call, what the truck needs and what computer equipment needs to be sent where. This is not how I envisioned being "prepared" for the next leave LOL. It was stressful but I made it through it alive. I can't call dh during the week until WAY late at night. We decided to email during the week. I can call him on the weekend though. He can't answer his cellphone in public while in uniform... that's frowned upon. I told him if there was an emergency, I'd text message him, call the command, call his office or call the ombudsmen or the captain in Knoxville. They can get things rolling.

I am going down to 4 days a week work, then 3 and 2. 3 one week, 2 the next. Then I can spend more time concentrating on what I need to do at the house and with the boys. The down point is that half of my paychecks are going to gas and now my mother in law will keep the boys while I work. I am going to pay her $50 a week to keep the boys for me (to help her out as well) so my checks are going to be very small! I am thinking of not working much at all. With gas prices, it's no longer worth it for me to work except for medical care.

We plan on driving out to California in October or November. I am going to plan the trip so we can stop and visit family along the way. That is really my favorite part!

For the short term, I am planning out meals for 5 weeks. I am going to make them ahead of time and store them in the deep freezer. So far I have breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks all planned out. I'll need about $100 in groceries and then I'll be set for the next month and a half to feed us. I'll post more later. The boys want to buy pizza with their allowance and I am really needing to go to Save*A*Lot for groceries.