Home again.

The hardest part of having a husband home from a deployment is learning how to share space again. For four and a half months (by far the shortest deployment out there, ask any military family), my tiny little house has been my own. My floors have been clear every night, all the toys picked up, all the clothes in the hamper, and all of my minimal electronics confined to one tiny table in a corner of my room. The only thing I've had to trip over is my daughter's dolly stroller and an occasional block tower. The house felt almost spacious. Now that Seth's home, in the midst of my elation, I find myself tripping over his stuff, bumping into him at unexpected moments (not always unpleasant), and generally being aware that there is another full-sized body in my house. It's like being a newly-wed all over again.

But he's home! Our final foray with the Navy is over, and we are looking forward to new things. No more lonely nights or departure dates. No more pensive waiting for an email that might not come for another week. No more taking stock in the life around me and throwing my hands in the air because it's just more than one person can handle. From now on, I'll throw my hands in the air because I'm trying to handle life in tandem with another person, and I'll always be grateful that that other person is around (You can call me on that if I start complaining ten years from now).

Boogaloo is delighted to have Daddy home, but like me, she's a little jealous of her space. She seems to think it's a crime for Daddy and Mommy to talk to each other. She may talk to us, and we may talk to her, but when we talk to each other, all sorts of attention-getting techniques come out. But she knew her daddy when he got off the plane, and she ran right into his arms and climbed all over him.

Sharing her with him is a little weird too. Suddenly I have another person to keep discipline, wipe bottoms, clean up messes, and get snacks. I don't have to go running to her nearly as often. I'm immensely grateful for the freedom, but for the first few days, I kept twitching in her direction every time he went to her. I felt like he was doing my job, when in reality, I've been doing both of our jobs on the homefront, and he's been doing another job and a half altogether somewhere out in the middle of the Pacific.

In about a month we will be a civilian family. Seth has begun looking for work in earnest. We are fixing up our house in case we have to move and probing every corner of the job market so we can stay. Soon we'll be getting used to a set schedule, two weeks of vacation a year, consistent weekends, and years and years of time with Seth doing the things that brought us together in the first place. Lord willing, he'll be here for the birth of our other children, for birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, and glorious sunsets. We've mastered the art of living apart. Now we get to study living together.