the weekend

I had a great weekend, and so did Ethan. I went to the State Volunteer Workshop, for the Family Readiness Group, and Ethan participated in the Youth Symposium for the military. Jason was off, and I am so grateful that he stayed home with Elliott.

Friday evening, I took the boys and went to an ice breaker event. We had snacks, played games, and just chatted it up with people we don't get to see often. It was a nice start to the weekend. Jason had to qualify with his weapons (in a snow storm) and missed out.

Saturday morning, bright and early, Ethan and I headed out for a full day of stuff. Ethan was with K-5th graders and they did all sorts of science experiments, and other fun kid things. He had a really great time. I enjoyed my time with the other FRG volunteers. We had great speakers, and tons of information given to us. I love seeing familiar faces and meeting new people. Everyone was so friendly and they are always willing to share their ideas and the best practices that they use. Not to mention, we have all been in the same situation concerning deployments. It's comforting.

After Ethan and I got home, we packed up the Portillo's we ordered in from Chicago for Jason and we all headed over to a friend's house for dinner. The kids all ran around and beat up on the Dads, and we all ate way too much Italian Beef. We also stayed up way too late, and it was not easy getting up to go back for more trainings on Sunday.

Ethan got to go out to the Fort to be with the older kids and they did things like learning self-defense and playing basketball. It sounded awesome. :) 

I went to a couple more trainings, and we had the best motivational speaker come. We laughed, we cried, and we all left with new friends. All-in-all, a great weekend.

***WARNING***

I'm about to talk about my feelings.

I didn't realize it until this weekend, but I am not emotionally prepared for this deployment. With Jason leaving in less than a month, I really need to get it together. Anytime something was mentioned about kids, relationships, friends, being proud, being strong, or pretty much ANYTHING, I would tear up. I can't help it. The people I have met here have been great, but nothing can compare to the support we had in Billings. I am worried about my kids, I am worried about my husband, I'm worried about making it for a whole year, on my own, again. I know........stay strong, hang in there, chin up, etc. It hasn't even started and I feel defeated. I don't normally feel like this, especially because I have seen first hand that I truly DO NOT have it bad, at all. But I am ready for it to be a year from now, when I can prepare for Jason to come home. So thank you now to everyone who will be supporting us between now and then, just in case I forget to say it later. We do appreciate all of you.