A Sneak Peak

We recently had a sneak peak into what life will be like during Zach's deployment. Zach was gone for about three weeks for a training course, leaving the girls and I to learn the ropes of life without him. Three weeks is the longest that we've been without him, so there was definitely a learning curve.

It is amazing how quickly the days can go by when you are busy. Like all the time busy. We occupied ourselves with play dates, swim lessons, a trip to the Children's Museum, lunches and movies with friends, a day trip to see family, finding a new rental house, celebrating a birthday, and all the miscellaneous day to day things. There were a few days where we didn't leave the house. We cozied up on the couch, watched movies all day, and had pancakes for dinner (because, why not??) Not that our time without Zach was all sunshine and daisies, because it wasn't.

There were still tantrums and meltdowns. There were still bedtime battles. Just because Daddy isn't here doesn't mean those go away. The trickiest part for me was learning to cook for just myself and the girls (I equate it to meals for one and a half). When Zach is home, we have plenty of leftovers and he takes them to work. I don't particularly care for leftovers, so we needed to come up with some much smaller meals. Needless to say, we had lots of hot dogs and chicken nuggets until I could get it figured out. Some recipes I can cut in half and it works just fine. Others, I don't think we'll be eating while he is gone. But I'm fairly certain I'll be looking around for some fresh ideas.

All in all, our time while Zach was gone went just fine. The girls were able to talk to him on the phone and we Skyped (which was much better because they could see him). But three weeks is a drop in the bucket to five months. I foresee that time being a bit more challenging. I have lots of ideas on how to help the time go by and make it easier on the girls, but the reality is that Daddy will still be gone.

I am so very thankful for our friends and family who kept us busy and helped the days go by a little quicker. And I am more thankful that Daddy finally came home :)