here we go again

well here i am again, its been slightly under 72 hours into this new deployment....man oh man i really shouldnt use hours as a countdown, but sounds much better than saying only 362 more days. sigh. Harold left at 2am on sunday morning we had "family" time from 2am to 330am, sitting in a parking lot, at the van as he held 2 guns and waited to line up and be bussed to a gym where we couldnt go and be processed to board the plane.
Zach stayed home with the nurse, it was hard to do, but we dont want to risk him getting sick. mikey and chance were asleep and we loaded them in the van, they slept the whole time, but i did get pics of dad with them and dad kissing them goodbye. ive always heard the deployments get easier as you have more....i must say ITS A LIE! its just as hard this time. im tired, im lonely and not ready to make this my "normal" for the next year.
so far we have been blessed with the deployment, its not iraq, or afgan, its safer, and communication is easier. during our first deployment we probably talked 6 times in 7 months and 2 emails. during our second deployment the 11 months he was gone, email was good and instant message was good, but phone calls sucked! so far he called this time from alaska as they waited to be refueled and he IM'd last night and early this morning for a bit. i also recieved a phone call after dinner tonight they havent been long, 10 minutes online and maybe 10 minutes in all with phone calls, but its contact...and ill take it. he should be able to get a phone over there for about 45 bucks a month that will allow him unlimited access to calling home. again....a blessing.
the kids miss dad, they are acting out, chance whinny about everything, mikey very emotional and he had rage today, i hope things settle down soon for them. zach however, just as cheery as he can be. when i came home from leaving Harold that morning zach was awake and smiling for me. i held him and just cried, but of course i didnt cry long, who could with that smile. i swear he was trying to hug me, lil guy is so smart.
so heres to the next 52 weeks, thats 52 trash days, 52 days of church, 26 grocery shopping trips, 26 pay days....sounds a lil better that way.