After 25 hours of driving my mom, Mikey, K.C., Chloe, and I made it back to Oklahoma. I couldn't bear to look at the state sign as we crossed in because that's the level of hatred I have for this Godforsaken place. However, the reason I came back makes it all worth it. Brian will be home VERY soon and I absolutely cannot wait!
The road trip went pretty well, we pulled a UHaul that was packed to the brim with stuff, as was the car. We left Raleigh on Saturday around lunch time and drove about 10 hours to Nashville. It took a tad longer than it should have because we let Mikey play for a bit every time we stopped for gas or food. He did really well, he really didn't fuss until we had about 45 minutes left. We mostly played Mickey Mouse and Curious George the whole time. I had him color with a Color Wonder set for a while, but he was just so content watching his DVDs that he didn't require a lot of entertaining. We did stop at a McDonald's that had a play place, so we let him run wild for about 30 minutes there. That was so wonderful to have, I don't know why more places along I-40 don't have that. We stopped for the night at my cousin, Chad's, house. They live right outside Nashville and kindly housed all 5 of us. They even had bowls set out for the cats and an extra litter box. I am especially grateful to them because they are moving back to Detroit in just 2 short weeks. They have enough chaos without us!
When we arrived they had snacks for us which we devoured. I put Mikey to bed, then we enjoyed several drinks. Kristi, Chad's wife, tried desperately to get us to stay another night, but my mom had a flight to catch, so we all woke up hungover and we had to head out pretty early. Kristi had a huge fruit bowl and made lots of food in the morning while we loaded up the car. After a quick breakfast and lots of hugs, we were on our way.
The drive on Sunday was supposed to be about 12 hours, but it ended up being 15 with all the stops. It was also pretty uneventful and Mikey was an absolute angel. He got a little fussy with about 3 hours left, but we popped him some snacks and then let him doze off to sleep. He really kept the fussing to a minimum, only crying when he was tired or needed a new diaper. It really was amazing. What a wonderful little boy I have! We arrived in Geronimo around 11pm and pretty much went straight to bed. We unpacked our essentials, set up the pack n play and crashed. We were all really exhausted.
The next morning I woke up before everyone else so I hopped right to it. I went out and started unloading what I could from the UHaul. About 30 minutes later I had almost everything out when my mom came outside with Mikey. She chased him around for a bit and then started taking stuff inside. When all the small stuff was unloaded I strapped Mikey to my back and we got the heavy stuff. We carried it all inside and assembled the crib. I got the crib up just in time for Mikey to take a short nap before we had to take my mom to the airport. That was one of the most difficult goodbyes I've ever had to say. It ripped my heart out seeing the pain on her face as she hugged and kissed Mikey, I know she's going to miss him so much. I just feel awful taking him away from her. I waited in the security line with her for a little bit before I just had to turn and leave. I couldn't bear to see her so sad anymore. I couldn't look back or I was gonna lose it and I didn't want to have ANOTHER breakdown in the Lawton Airport. This airport is proving to be one of my least favorite places (I had to send Brian off to Afghanistan there and send my mom home). We stayed pretty busy the rest of the day unpacking, grocery shopping, getting health insurance switched, things of that nature. It helped, but I just wanted to hang out with my mom, I missed and still do miss her. We had such an amazing 6 months together, I really don't know what I would have done without her.
Over the past several days I have just been unpacking and trying to get prepared for Brian's return. Its so incredibly close I can smell him! I think I have just the right amount of time to get everything done, I just have a few more things to put away then I need to do laundry and deep clean the house. Thankfully there is not much to do in the way of cleaning because Mike had the house incredibly clean when we got here. I will vacuum, steam mop the hard floors, clean the counter tops and toilets, and that will about do it. I can't wait to see Brian!!!! Hopefully my next post will be filled with lots of reunion pictures!
And just because its fun to reminisce...check out my blog from the end of his last deployment here
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