Sorry for the unannounced leave of absence. I just realized this morning that I have not posted in five days. I have been busy and gone. Saturday morning, I got up and drove to Fort Jackson, alone, with three kids. Yep. I am crazy. The night before, as I was talking to Amy about being nervous and asking her to pray for me while I drive, she reminded me (for the upteenth time) that I am now an Army Wife…and they are Army Strong, too. Now, I don’t usually feel so much like an Army Wife, but I guess, with Chris gone for a while, it counts. Apparently, Army Wives do things like packing up three little kids and driving five hours to see their soldier for a day and a half, and then turn around and drive back. After two weeks of talking to Amy (who is both an Army Wife and a soldier), I feel like a well placed “Hooah!” goes here.

Really, it was an uneventful drive down there. I had never driven past Pigeon Forge before, so it was mostly a new experience for me. I had to stop once in North Carolina for a bathroom stop. We stopped at a rest area, and I got the kids out and we trooped to the bathroom. Me, Kyra, and Elijah all had to go. Once in there, I assigned each kid a stall, and told them not to leave it until I told them. It was then that I realized my propensity for never putting shoes on Owen backfired. He can stand up now, but, without shoes, there was no way he was standing on the floor of a public bathroom. So, I had to hold him. It was tricky. I feel I deserve some sort of medal. After that stop, I didn’t have to stop again until I was almost in Columbia, and Elijah had to go again. We got back on the interstate after that stop, and drove three exits down and met Chris at a McDonald’s. It was a really, really happy reunion. The kids and I were playfully arguing, before he got there, about who got the first kiss. When Chris pulled up, Kyra took off running and claimed the first kiss. She wouldn’t hardly share. It was very good to kiss my man again. It took a while to get used to him being completely bald. That was definitely a change. After we ate, I followed him to Fort Jackson.

While we were there, we saw where Chris is living, played on the playground behind his apartment, drove around the base looking at different things, visited the PX, had ice cream, and then we went to our hotel. After getting settled in the hotel, we went swimming in their indoor pool, which the kids loved. After swimming, we went to eat at The Lizard’s Thicket. Good food. We all collapsed in utter exhaustion that night. Sunday morning, we got up and went to church. We went to a service on base. It was actually in the Chaplain School. It was called Chapel Next, and was a contemporary protestant service. It was really cool. I enjoyed it. It was very, VERY different than what I am used to, though. But I am of the opinion that different is not synonymous of bad. It was very cool to be in a service with the military families. There were a few basic training or AIT soldiers there in their ACUs. We sat among a bunch of Chaplains and Chaplain Candidates. After the service, I got to meet the Chaplain who preached at that service and his wife. I enjoyed meeting my first Chaplain’s Wife. She seemed very nice, and I look forward to meeting many more. Amy is all the time bragging making me jealous telling me what I have to look forward to in meeting Chaplain’s wives, and now I am very excited about that.

I can’t wait to live on an Army base. It is just so cool. I am constantly teary-eyed while there, because I find everything so moving. My favorite moment there (of the non-in-my-husband’s-arms moments) was an hour or so before we left to come home. We were watching the kids play on the playground behind Chris’ apartment, and there were four little girls, ages 4-9, playing there also. As we were sitting there, the bugles came sounding through the air, as they took the flag down for the day. Chris stood up, and all the little girls hurriedly jumped down from the playground equipment. I could barely keep from crying as I watched those little girls stand straight up, hands over their hearts, one little girl saluting (which was adorable), and not making a sound until the bugles ceased. The respect and reverence was touching. I love Army Kids. If Chris had of been in uniform, I probably would have cried big time, because he would have faced the flag, stood at attention, and saluted. I love Soldiers. Shortly after that, Chris took Elijah inside, and, as soon as he left, all the little girls came over and started talking to me. They asked me if we had moved there, and told me how cute Owen was. They told me about all of the various places they had lived, and how it was being an Army Kid. One little girl said her daddy was a Chaplain and had just came home from Korea. Which prompted another girl to tell about when her daddy was in Iraq. It was like getting a crystal ball view of what my kids’ lives are going to be. I liked these kids. I think that Army Kids are good people.

So, then, I drove home. Leaving for the trip home was not as exciting as leaving for the trip there. I think the difference, besides being tired, was that, on the way there, I had Chris to look forward to, and, on the way home, I had the messy house I left to look forward to. The trip was mostly uneventful, other than the two stops and the screaming, teething baby. The first stop was highlighted with a weird, scary guy parked in the car beside of me demanding to know where my husband was and trying to talk to me, which prompted me to slam the door, run around the van, jump in, and drive to the other side of the building. The highlight of the second stop would be Elijah dumping an entire sprite on him and his car-seat which sparked Elijah squalling at the top of his lungs, Owen squalling at the top of his lungs, and Kyra frantically singing “Hush Little Baby” at the top of her lungs, while I contemplated sitting on the curb to cry. I didn’t, though. I dealt with it. Then, I got back on the road, and made it safely home. Cause I’m an Army Wife, and, apparently, this is just par for the course.