The good news: I made it safely to Tucson, the first stop in my trip from El Paso to Glendora, and symbolically the first stop on my way to Afghanistan.
The bad news: I'm stuck in a hotel room with a 13-month old human baby, and two 4-year old babies. ('Babies' is the affectionate term James and I use to refer to our two cats, Sushi and Sake.) And none of them wants to sleep!!!
Although it's way past his bedtime, Matthew is currently playing with my running shoes, which I inadvertently left on the floor. Sushi is exploring every nook and cranny in the hotel room, to include behind the frig, where she got stuck earlier and required rescue. (I nearly fainted when I walked in from dinner and couldn't find the babies - I really panicked!) Sake is .... well, being Sake. She's the queen kitty who is laying on the floor in the corner, sphinx-like.
Today was a difficult day in some respects, but it was full of relief in others. Getting out of the house this morning was frustrating, to put it lightly. I had no idea it would take 3 adults and 1 child four hours to get the 3 animals and ourselves into the cars. By the time we left El Paso, Matt was screaming, the cats were meowing, and I was feeling quite stressed. (A friend even called this morning in the middle of the packing debacle; all I said was, "Hello?" and she immediately answered with, "Autumn, what's wrong?")
At the same time, my deployment adventure finally started today! It was a relief to stop planning and start doing something. Leaving El Paso signaled the commencement of a chapter in my life that I will never forget, a chapter which will likely include laughter, tears, loneliness, personal satisfaction, gratitude, sorrow, and every emotion in between. Let's get on with it!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Wow, what a zoo (pun intended)!! It sounds like everyone made it alright though, which is the important part. The Babies are probably used to the nomadic life by now, Dakota doesn't mind anything as long as she gets a good meal at the end, and Matt ... well, the little prince can't be happy all the time. I'd give up beer on R&R to know what Dakota is thinking when she steps out of the car after a year in odd places, only to find out she ended up right back where she started!!
ReplyDelete