... and here we go again ...

Hubby left yesterday for a six-month deployment overseas. This will be his first trip so far away, and it's admittedly a tad surreal to think about us having half the world between us. So we just don't think about that too much. Thankfully he's not in combat, but rather in a rear support role where he's in more danger from heatstroke and spiders than enemy fire. Not that we want to be totally complacent, either, but that line of thought keeps the stress level pretty low.

We spent Sunday as a fun family day, took the kids to the West Edmonton Mall to check out the theme park and see a sea lion show, and spent the night at a hotel with a pool. Then Monday morning we brought him to the airport to see him off, which was rough for a few minutes but then I bought off the kids with some dinosaur-shaped mint chocolate pops and headed for the highway. I'll tell you, those steps and each kilometer down the road were just as brutal as the times we left the Halifax airport or left Ontario... but we made it. We spent the afternoon at a McDonald's playplace with some friends to play with, then got home a little past supper time.

So far the tears have been pretty few. Tempers are a tad short in the littles, but we're working on keeping the minds occupied so there are fewer opportunities for confrontation. I'm trying to think of things to keep their focus on happy things like making stuff to send to Daddy, watching fun movies, and planning some playdates. And we'll be headed back home at some point for visits with family and friends, so that will be a nice distraction.

And me? Well, I guess you could say I've hauled out the toolkit from last time. Some might think it's unhealthy, but I have kind of mastered the art of compartmentalizing this part of life, and I have shelved the box containing the negatives. I'm sure at some point it will try to open itself or fall off the shelf, but for now it's good. I'll buy some extra-strength duct tape just in case. ;)