New Year, Same Song and Dance

I can't believe it's 2011. Where did 2010 go?

The last few months have been a blur (hence the lack of posting), but that's what happens during the holidays. It also hasn't helped that this year has felt insanely busy already, and we're only (less than) a month in. I'm hoping this isn't a sign of things to come...

This last Thanksgiving was a little weird because it was the first one I hadn't spent with D since we met, which is pretty incredible given his occupation. It was still a good one though - I went to my parent’s house and we had a small get together with family and friends. I even made The Best Pie, EVER! (bourbon-pecan pumpkin butter pie). I know, you wish you'd been there to have some. Dad brined the turkey and mom and dad's friends the Smith's brought a family recipe to the table: pork sausage dressing. I thought I'd died and gone to stuffing heaven. Needless to say there was no shortage of good food or company to be had, but it still felt a little hollow with D gone.

The great thing about November and December is you get two major holidays within a month of each other. The even better thing this last year was D came home for three weeks to spend Christmas with me in our new home! It's hard to quantify how you feel when you see the person you love the most for the first time in three and a half months. It was like he never left. We fell so easily back into our routine, right down to the way he holds my hand while I'm driving when we were on our way home from the airport. Everything felt right and whole again.

And then, there was the big reveal.

I'd been secretly dying to know what he'd think of the house when he saw it for the first time in person. All the time, work, (money!!!) and labor were only worth it if he liked it as much as I did. Pictures only show you so much when you're dealing with a project of this scale, but my husband was clearly in awe when we rounded the corner into the cul-de-sac, with that "whoa" look in his eyes. He was very pleased with the end result which only added to my joy that day.

We made the most of the time we had and within the first two weeks were so deep into a food and drink coma that it was obvious that some serious detox would be needed to come out of it. But, what are the holidays if not a time to eat, drink, and be merry with the ones we love?

Christmas was fantastic, and being able to spend it together in our new home made it all the more special. We realized a little too late that we were feeling a bit drained from all our activities though, trying to squeeze as much into his visit as we could. I'd wanted so badly to see and do all the things I hadn't been able to do with him over the last few months, but what he really wanted to do was sit at home and just relax, with nowhere to be and nothing to do. It's hard to plan for everything, especially once you're in the thick of it.

Before we knew it our time was up. New Years had come and gone, and we found ourselves with a still lengthy to-do list and no more time to do anything. It's so hard not to feel selfish when I watch him pack and can't help but say, "I wish you didn't have to go."

Luckily work has kept me very busy over the last few weeks, so I haven't had too much time to really sit and feel lonely. Our talking schedule hasn't gotten any better sadly, as D returned to 14+ hour work days and the 17 hour time difference that makes talking so hard to begin with. What's really crazy is he's been over there for six months already, so depending on when he gets his next set of orders we could be 1/3 of the way through. It just goes to show that even in the most undesirable of situations, time still flies.

I've been surprised at how life has been with D away this time around. It feels different, perhaps because it's more than just a deployment, but it's definitely more stressful on my end (and that's without a wedding to plan!) All the moving parts that go into homeownership and maintenance, the responsibilities, (the cleaning!) are all things I had no real way to prepare for. But seeing as how a large part of our lives are spent apart, I'm taking it as a character building exercise. D married me because he knew I could handle it (well, that and he couldn't live without me).

I will say this: I'm looking forward to everything 2011 has to offer because I know no matter what happens, we'll take the lemons, add some sugar and vodka and have ourselves a party. ;)