1 week down!

Well we all survived the first week, barely!  No really it went okay.  Monday was Matthew's last day with us, as he went back to live with his mother.  Since it was a paid holiday for me, I went to have lunch with Matthew at school and spent the rest of the afternoon there with him.  It was a sad day for me, but I think he was excited for a new adventure and being the new kid.  As I'm typing I am thinking "has it really only been a week?" because for me it feels like so much longer.  I am hoping this isn't going to be the norm and that only the first few weeks will be long and eventually that time will just fly by.  I did countdown the days in a planner and have a day when Jeromey should be home.  He will be home around my 30th birthday so we will have a BIG celebration!  Luckily for the time being Jeromey and I are still able to talk to each other on a daily basis.  This is making this time pretty easy for now.  I know that there will come a time when this may not be the case and when I will be waiting by the phone to hear from him.  His presence is so missed around the house.  I am currently warming Echo in my scenty warmers and using the room spray because it smells like him.  I can tell that Austin is missing his dad and brother just as much as I am.  The other day while driving in the van he said "it used to be four of us and now its only two, I miss when it was four of us".  We are keeping each other company and I am trying to make the best of this time for the two of us to bond.  Austin had a sleep over with his best friend Kobe on Friday.  Normally I would be more than happy to have time to myself, but not this time!  I was dreading sitting at home alone.  I asked my sisters and posted on facebook to ask for some company.  I ended up going to dinner with my sisters, sister in law, mother in law, and cousin in law (is that right? lol) then we went to a movie.  I am SO appreciative of them for keeping me company and keeping me busy.  I would have probably spent the night crying and moping if I would have stayed home by myself.  Saturday I ran errands and waited for Austin to be ready to come home, and of course even when I picked him up I don't think he was ready.  Today Austin had his first wrestling tournament without Dad.  Grandma Ford and my sister Alesia came along to cheer for Austin.  At the beginning of the tournament they played the National Anthem.  I do have to say, that hearing it now is a lot different than before.  Before, it didn't have much of an effect on me, but now I can say it stirs up emotions.  It has just taken on a lot more meaning to me.  I will admit that Jeromey's deployment has made me more patriotic than ever.  Austin got cold feet right before his first match today, and I'm not sure why.  He was almost in tears and told me he didn't want to wrestle.  I'm not a mom that is going to push him to do something he doesn't want to, but I also was not going to let him quit.  So I told him that because he had chose to sign up for this tournament, he was going to wrestle.  I told him he didn't have to do the next tournament if he didn't want to, but I wouldn't let him quit this one.  His first match was a tough one and he got pinned.  He was upset with himself and even said "I suck" as he was walking off the mat, but after talking to his former coach Pete, who was this kid's coach, he felt better.  Pete let him know that the other kid had over 50 matches under his belt where Austin ony had 12.  His next match was against and even tougher kid and all Austin could say before the match was "he's a 2 time state champion and he made a kid's shoulder pop out and it was so bad he had to go to the hospital".  Ausitn does have a problem with psyching himself out before a match and its something I've tried to help him with.  I couldn't help but chuckle to myself though.  Although I know the kid wasn't lying about being a 2-time state champion, I realized how just by saying that he had already defeated Austin before the match even started.  I told Austin that next time he should tell all the kids he's going to wrestle that he's a 4-time state champ.  Austin held his own against this kid and didn't get pinned, but he did get tech falled.  For those of you who don't know wrestling, that means the other kid was ahead by 15 points.  Its one team point less than a pin, so I suppose its better than getting pinned.  His third match he pinned his kid in the 3rd period!  After the 1st he could already tell that he was out wrestling his opponent, so his attitude and demeanor was a lot different than the previous two matches.  He was smiling and having fun out there.  I told Austin that we could eat wherever he wanted for dinner.  He picked the Vine, because he just loves wings.  We ended up going to Donnelly's because my sisters were going to be there watching the Steelers vs Jets game.  We had a good time and my cousins stopped by too so that was nice to see them.  All in all, we survived the first week. I'm not going to lie, I had some rough days.  I cried some, and really just felt kind of depressed at times.  But I was able to rely on my wonderful support system of friends and family and get through.  I found a cute saying "God found some of the strongest women, and paired them with Soldiers", and although I believe its true, it takes a special kind of breed to go through what we do, we wouldn't be as strong were it not for help and support.  I can't imagine living away from friends and family and having to do this.  Some women do, and I know if I had to I could do it, but I am glad to be in the situation I am in instead of that one!  Jeromey has been really busy this whole week.  I know he has some catching up to do so I think time might be flying a little faster than it is for us back home.  I do know he misses everyone terribly.  Its also VERY cold where he is.  So he is probably not enjoying any outside work he may have to do.  I am trying to be vague here because there are OPSEC (operational security) rules that we must follow.  I am new to all this but have found out that there should be no exact dates or locations.  So although previously with my countdown of time left before he was leaving was probably some kind of a violation, now that I am aware I am trying to comply.  Again, thanks so much everyone for all your support.  Don't forget about Red Fridays!  Wear red on Fridays to show support for the troops until they all come home.  Looks like I have some shopping to do.