So, Will has been home for five days, and is on day four of reintegration training.
Remember when I talked about sitting through hours of briefings and Power Point slides and warnings that he might try to kill us or buy a motorcycle?
Well, when the soldiers get home, they immediately begin seven consecutive partial work days where they go in to hear all the same stuff. While one purpose is to get the information out there and have a chance to get some necessary paperwork and medical screenings done, its bigger purpose to ease the transition home. Going to work for a few hours a day for a week is far less jarring than being gone for a year to suddenly being home 24/7.
And as I've discovered this week, I need it just as much as he does. Maybe more. I might be the one who attempts to murder him.
I've been doing my own thing on my own schedule for the past year. If I wanted to see what my friends are up to on Facebook, I did. If I wanted to blog, I did. If I decided to shampoo the carpet some random morning, I could. But now he's home. Just hanging out. ALL THE TIME. Most of me wants to spend every second with him and soak up his being home-ness. But part of me wants to read blogs and Facebook for awhile without feeling guilty for neglecting him.
These hours he's at work give me time to myself. And I need it.
Also, now that the first heady days of reunion are over, the same things about him that annoyed me before he left are still annoying. (And I'm sure the same is true for him.) And living in a crap hole (literally!) for a year can lead to some bad habits. After his first dinner home, he swiped a big pile of crumbs from the table to the floor. Deliberately. Like our dining room was suddenly Medieval Times.
There may have been some yelling about common courtesy and what are you thinking, you barbarian??? I'll never tell.
He came home about 20 minutes ago. In that time he's interrupted me to show me a box (just a box...just because it was folded oddly), a cord, a stuffed dragon (really?), to tell me stories about riding the bus this morning at work, and to ask if we were out of chips.
I may have told him to PLEASE FOR THE LOVE ALL THINGS HOLY GIVE ME 15 MINUTES OF PEACE SO I CAN WRITE.
Ahem.
So the moral of the story?
They say the week of reintegration is for the soldier. I am discovering that it's more for me.
7 comments:
I would have paid good money to see your face when Will swiped the crumbs onto the floor. LOL
Those reunions...bittersweet. It is really hard to go from complete independence to Oh crap...he's still here.
Adam's been home for a good year and a half and I think we've finally figured out how to live together and separately. iPhones have really helped. Sitting side by side but doing our own thing. Reminds me of Sam and Linds with their laptops. lol Love you, Linds.
Good luck Brandi...or should I say good luck, Will.
YES! I know just how you feel. Good luck with the transition and thanks for the laugh:)
thankfully, my husband knows that i prefer to be alone. thankfully, he doesn't take it personally. and thankfully, my husband knows the only two things i need him for is to watch the kids whenever he is around and for lots and lots of sex.
ahem.
yes, we have a perfect relationship.
I am the re-integration queen. (Yes I am laughing at that sentence). You can laugh at me too. I became retarded. How do I talk to my husband again? Oh yeah... After a while it became more normal again. I have to say the coming home sex is fantastic.
Yes. Karl was only gone to Iraq for 5 months and it was hard. I can't imagine what it must be like after 12 months plus those couple maddening extra weeks. But actually, we had post-residency re-integration issues, too. After three years of 80-90 hour weeks, it's still startling and kind of annoying when he walks in the door at 4:15 and interrupts my Facebook time. And having him around on Saturdays? EVERY Saturday? I mean, sometimes we actually plan stuff to go and do, and then it's cool. But when I just want to sit around and do a whole lot of nothing all day? So. Not. Cool. He's the type that pops out of bed and wants to go, do, project, whatever. I like to sleep late and take my time getting human again before attempting anything much. Ah well. Soon enough they'll send him TDY for a few weeks and then you'll miss him again. Weird how that happens. :)
I can relate just a bit... Matthew's schedule since we've been married is 3 days a week for 12+ hours (plus commute time) so I'm pretty much on my own, and then he's home the other days (depending on school of course) and it drives me crazy how he can derail all the order in just one day.
His new job will be 5 days a week, 8 hour shifts- I'm looking forward to the consistency. (Though I will miss having him home on a weekday once in awhile- it makes shopping and Dr. visits so much easier)
Good luck this week! :)
what did they invent vacuum cleaners for again??
((And no, I wouldn't expect Brandi to wield it. However no one in the house is as fast as drawing one as she is..))
:-)
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