So invasions take on a whole new meaning when your child is actively serving and somewhere on the other side of the world. The anxiety level for this mama has reached an all time high. I’m not sure what this means for his and his buddies, but I know it’s not a positive development. We don’t really know how this will impact his time overseas, which really sucks. It’s super hard not knowing anything because we can’t really plan our lives.
So as we get through week one of deployment, I’m noticing that the pit in my stomach will not leave. It’s like I’m watching Goalielocks in net 24/7. In short, it’s not a great feeling. Thankfully, I’ve been able to chat with him via text. This has helped immensely. This weekend I’ll be distracting myself with some Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Mayor’s hockey tournament. Hopefully, this will allay the pit in my stomach even if it’s just for a moment.
I decided to keep an electronic diary of my thoughts during deployment. By the time this is published, he will be back home.
Saying goodbye to our eldest is never easy, but this last time it was particularly hard. This time it would be the last time I got to hug him before he left on his first deployment. To say that hug contained a lot of emotion and love would be a gross understatement. While he was excited for this new adventure, the mom in me couldn’t help but be anxious and worried sick. Naturally, I tried my best to hide this from him. After all, I didn’t want him feeding off my anxiety. Nor did I want him worrying about his mom.
Perhaps the hardest part of all of this is not knowing the details. He’s limited in what he can share with for obvious reasons, but it makes it hard when you don’t know the when and where. At the moment, we’re just waiting for the shoe to drop. Obviously, it’s been a bit nerve wracking.
I found this beautiful World War 2 Era poem “The Liberators” and thought I’d share it on the blog. There’s so much going on in the world right now that makes me worry about our kids’ collective future. My Grandfather bravely served on a B-24 Liberator during World War 2 in the European Theater. Now over seventy-five years later, his great-grandson is now serving.
The poem “The Liberators” by H.R. Hays.
It’s hump day and the end of the week can’t come quickly enough. Work has been dreadfully slow this week, which makes for a long day and a long week. It took me almost hours to get a sale, which is ridiculous. Anyway, I’m hoping the volume improves as the week progresses. At least tomorrow is Thursday, which means Jake will be calling.
My Wednesday workout was chest and arms. I repeated last week’s BBG workout since I again missed last week’s ab workout. Happily, I can report that I didn’t throw up after today’s workout. Hopefully, this means I won’t lose my cookies after my run tomorrow. I’m a little over throwing up. It’s not how I want to spend my lunch break.
Life has been difficult the past couple of years for everyone. The stress of the pandemic along with life’s usual stressors are enough to cause trauma. So many people are walking around with their own wounds from trauma, be kind. Notice the friends, who are by your side as you walk with your hurt and trauma because they’re your true friends.
Thankfully, my sales assistants, or should I say apprentices, are by my side each and everyday to help mama navigate the good and bad days. Anakin has been a bit special lately. I don’t know why, but he’s obsessed with the root of our pineapple plants. For the moment, I’m having to take him out front to do his business, so he doesn’t destroy the plant. Athena, on the other hand, has become obsessed with eating grass. Anyway, I just placed my second Target this hump day because I totally forgot to get milk. Oops!!
So today’s theme for bloganury is perfect day. How fitting that yesterday suck and today was a much better day. Was it perfect now? But on the whole it was significantly better than yesterday. In fact, even the puppies were on board for a better day. To be fair, however, they did lose their morning front yard privileges. Their morning and afternoon trips outside were relegated to the backyard, which apparently is not as interesting.
At work, things were much better as well. It wasn’t the knockout days I’d come accustomed to during AEP, but it was good. Goalielocks was able to go back to school after staying home the last few days with the flu. Tamiflu is definitely a wonder drug. It knocked out the worst of his symptoms pretty quickly. We kept him home until he had been without a fever for 24 consecutive hours. Yesterday would have been just short of the requisite 24 hours, so he stayed home.
Since the new year started, my ability to wake up early and workout had disappeared. Consequently, I ran two miles and walked a mile over my lunch. It’s actually a really nice way to breakup the workday and collect my sanity. Moreover, a good run always helps improve my energy and erase any negativity from the morning. The puppies would love for me to run outside, but the impact is just too much for me at this time. Hopefully, once I get back from Charleston, I can get back into my early morning habit.
Today may not have been the perfect day, but it was a great day! The highlight, of course, was talking to Jake. He looked and sounded really good today. In fact, he didn’t look as tired as usual. Thankfully, work and school continue to go really well for him. I just love getting the call from him and seeing how good he looks and sounds. It definitely puts this mom’s mind at ease.
2021 is almost over and I can’t wait. It’s not been an awesome year in many respects. On the other hand, it’s been a fantastic year. Professionally, I excelled an am a top producer on my team. More importantly I love my job. I look forward to what 2022 will bring me from a professional standpoint.
2021 saw us move our son out of his first apartment. This was quite the milestone for all of us. Fortunately, we had a great deal of support from our family both emotionally and literally. My folks travelled to Utah to help us get Jake packed. We wanted to take as much work of his shoulders as we could. Thankfully, we did a great job getting him situated while maximizing his free time.
This fall has brought a number of challenges, not all of which will be shared here, that seemed insurmountable. First, I broke my little toe. How something so little can hurt so much is a mystery to me. Also, I learned to avoid MD Now at all costs. Then the Hubby nearly sawed the tips of his fingers off. Again this experience reiterated why we should continue to avoid MD Now. Next a goon kicked the Mayor in the thigh with his skate resulting in a large gash. Fortunately, MedExpress was able to treat him .
Of course one of the biggest challenge of the early fall was saying goodbye to Maya. She has been such an important part of our life for the last twelve years. I miss being greeted by her deep bark when I come home. We miss here dearly and so do Anakin and Athena. They’re adjusting well, but Athena was depressed for a couple of months after Amaya passed.
This year I did a great job of running and doing BBG regularly. I’ll definitely look to continue this trend in 2022. Although to be honest, I’ve taken off the last week and a half due to a cold. I finally started running again Tuesday and my lungs felt like they were going to explode. My run today and yesterday went much better and my lungs feel good. Tomorrow we’ll ring in the New Year with a 4 on 4 tournament at Skatezone. Should be fun.
I can’t believe it’s been two years since Jake left for BMT. The heartbreak and pride I felt that day are still fresh in my mind and soul. It was such an off juxtaposition of emotions. While we have adjusted to our new normal, the house simply isn’t the same without him. In the two short years he’s served, he has accomplished a lot. We couldn’t be more proud. Here’s a throwback to Dec 10, 2019.
https://flhockeymomfit.com/2019/12/?v=7516fd43adaa
After a sixteen hour shift yesterday, I can say I made it. AEP is over and normal life can resume. It’s been a crazy, productive and draining seven weeks, but I’m proud of how it went. However, I’m relieved the grind is over for a bit. Today was so dead, they let us leave early which was a total gift. It was slow, I was starting to fall asleep at my desk.
Since I got off earlier than expected, I was able to get some stuff down around the house. I took care of the laundry that’s been waiting to be fold since AEP started. I’m only kidding, the laundry hasn’t been sitting around that long. While I folded laundry and took care of the dishes, I finished the current season of the Great British Bake-off. I love that show and will be baking a ton over the next four days.
The best part of yesterday was receiving videos and photos of my oldest’s promotion ceremony. It was so much fun to see him being promoted. Moreover, I loved seeing the camaraderie that exists within his squadron. Honestly, love seeing how well he is loved and treated. It definitely puts my mom heart and mind at ease. The Hubby and I are so proud!
It’s been a wonderful Wednesday for our family. This week has been quite stressful after a routine physical uncovered a potential cardiac issue for Goalielocks. As you can imagine, this took us by surprise and created a lot of anxiety in our house. The doctor told us no hockey until the cardiologist cleared him.
After several anxious days, the Hubby took Goalielocks to the cardiologist at Nicklaus Children’s Hospital. Originally, I had intended to go, but I was concerned that my anxiety would make him more anxious. Anxiety isn’t known to be helpful with cardiac issues. I did, however, make a list of questions to ask the doctor. His cardiologist had me call in, so he could address my concerns. Obviously, he is used to nervous mothers.
Thankfully, after another EKG, an echocardiogram, and physical exam, the doctor cleared Goalielocks for all activities. Goalielocks will wear be wearing a holter monitor for the next week, which will give the doctor an idea of how often the irregular heart beats are happening. We will be taking it on vacation with us and he’ll wear it on our hike. I’ll also be taking him in for bloodwork to check his electrolytes and thyroid. We are so happy its nothing lethal and he’s going to be okay. More importantly, he can resume his normal activities.
Our wonderful Wednesday got even better this evening. This evening Jake called to give us some good news. The Board selected him for BTZ, which is an incredible honor. We are so incredibly proud of all he has accomplished over these past two years. I cant wait to see him Friday!
Here’s a list of our day’s activities:
*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.
*I ran 1.5 miles and walked a mile on the treadmill while watching Curb.
*Three days until I’ll have all my boys in one place!
*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. Fortunately, it still looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida. Although we still have two systems in the Atlantic Peter followed by Rose.
*Tonight I made myself a Lean Cuisine since everybody else was out of the house. I enjoyed it with a nice bottle of sparkling water.
*The word of the day is lithography. One of my favorite examples of lithography is Moulin Rouge by Henri Toulouse-Lautrec.
*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Fortunately, we had no run-ins with the toads, lizards or grasshoppers today.