Mail Order Brides must feel like this!

Seriously.  Tomorrow is the day!  This is my umpteenth deployment but there's always this feeling - mail order brides must feel a bit like this!  So much fanfare goes into these homecoming meetings…  will he even like me?

If he doesn't, too bad.  We have papers already!  :)

I know, it seems funny but a lot changes over a year.  Schedules have to be adjusted to allow for another person being physically here, not just an idea at the other end of a computer.  I have changed.  For the better, I hope!  

A big one:  I cut the awful hair!

Now I'm a blonde.

Another good change:  I lost 15 pounds.  That was a lot on my short frame, and I feel better - I just hope he notices!

The kids are HUGE.  They both had growth spurts while he was gone, and I'm afraid it will be like pouring salt in a wound when he sees them.  At least after so many deployments we both have the wisdom to expect these kinds of shocks and try to prepare for them.

Today went by really fast…

We were greeted by the sight of his squadron's pilots flying in, the scream of SuperHornets never sounded so good.  Quiet is overrated!

Next up was to get the house super cleaned.  I joked on Facebook that the first child to get Spiderman footprints on my fridge or cemented toothpaste left in the sink will be caned.  Maybe that's not a joke… I told them to eat over the sink LOL.

Then it was time for "the girls" to get their blowouts and pedi-pedi's.  Sprocket is super cute in her purple bows but those had about a 2 second lifespan.

Got my bling for my outfit…

Why the "75"?

Then it was off to the "Night Before" party near the pier in Norfolk.

Loch was at a birthday party so it was just Finn & me.  Finn is looking every bit of his status as surgery recovery patient, but he needed the fresh air.  Maybe not the 48º temps and 40 mph wind gusts down there.  The weather is not going to cooperate tomorrow, but at least there is no rain forecasted.

My dad will love this one:  tonight's party was a typical D.O.D. event.  Scheduled from 4-8 pm, they ran out of food by 4:40 pm, although the Limbo and Electric Slide on the dance floor was going strong against a backdrop of a huge Security Briefing video being shown on a loop.  Pretty funny stuff.

Miles of cupcakes, however.  So that was dinner - because I'm not cooking!

It was really difficult to take a photo of the etching on the glasses we received tonight, but it has the ship and name on it.  Although I think these are pretty cool mementos to stash away, I'm pretty sure hubby will roll his eyes.  Not more ship….  !  Doesn't matter anyways I guess since they will get broken courtesy of our next government move :)

I saved the outfit for last!  This is bigger than prom, ladies.  You just don't divulge the outfit until the last minute!  Well, here it is…

And, courtesy of our current Polar Vortex I will most likely be covering it up with a trench coat!

If any family or friends are interested, this link will be active soon and will be streaming live the USS Harry S. Truman Homecoming tomorrow.

Welcome Home USS Harry S. Truman and Airwing

"Give 'em Hell!"

and especially

VFA-105 GUNSLINGERS

"Tonight, We Ride!"

 No sleep tonight… !

Head is spinning!

Thank you to all my blogger friends that are still here for me :)  I am working on reading up on all your blogs to see what I've missed and I will be ready to start commenting again soon!  I set a goal for myself to post twice a week while I relearn how to "schedule my day" to allow for blogging - failed right out of the gate!  This week has been INSANE though!  The Navy has publicly released the homecoming date so I feel comfortable letting you all know that it is at the end of this week… which is FANTASTIC news, but I have to get through this week first!  

Loch had his spring orchestra concert… yes, in the past year he has ditched the fiddle and now plays the cello.  Next year however, he will be playing Contrabass.  Or Double Bass, Stand Up Bass… String Bass… LOL they are all the same thing just depends on where you are from.

Here is some video, sorry but my phone cut out halfway through.  He is on cello, 2 rows in front of the Bass, if that makes sense.  These are first year orchestra students, all in 5th Grade.

So that got checked off the list.

Next up was Finn's surgery.  He had his tonsils out the other day… again.  For the uninitiated, here is a quick rundown of how that happens:

In about 3-5% of kids under the age of 5 that have their tonsils removed via one of the newer, less invasive techniques (debridement, radio wave, laser, etc)… they grow back!  Finn's were back bigger than ever, larger than an adult's even.  His sleep apnea came back and was affecting his schoolwork since he was so tired all the time, so they had to come out again.

This time he had it done the traditional way with a scalpel.  His surgery was almost an hour which is quite long for that procedure.  He had so much scar tissue from the previous one that the Dr. said it was very difficult to separate the tonsil from the muscle through all of that so they had to be very, very careful.  Did you know that a main artery in the neck lies just 2 mm from the tonsil bed?  Yeah, me neither until afterwards and so I've been pretty freaked out keeping an eye on him during recovery to ensure there isn't a sudden bleed.

Waiting before surgery…

Still happy…

Not so much happiness here.

Here is a blast from the past of CUTE!  Finn's 1st time at the age of 4.  Recovery was a breeze here, only about 3-4 days.

This time, they found his adenoids had grown back too (for the THIRD time) so they came out as well, should be the last time since he is older now and older kids don't usually show any regrowth.

He is on Day 5 of recovery now, it has been really rough but he is hanging in there.  He is off the hydrocodone as of today and on regular kid Tylenol.  Hoping he will be feeling lots better on Homecoming Day.

I haven't had time to enjoy Virginia!  She is greening up beautifully after a long winter, and my azaleas should open up within a week or two!

Next post will be a Homecoming Prep post!

**Added:  my brand new weather alert radio just went off, about jumped out of my skin!  What a cool little piece of equipment!  Apparently we have 60 mph winds and hail headed here within 30 minutes so I'm signing off… what a weird weather day, went from storms and 78º to a warning of 32º temps tonight.  Wacky, but so is everywhere this year!