Month: June 2012

All I Have to do is Dream?

6 Comments

This morning I dreamed that Sampson was home. It was a soft, quiet dream, untouched by the frantic edge of anxiety-driven nightmares and the brain-bending surreality of those weird dreams whose true bizarreness is only apparent upon recalling them with waking memory. My unconscious mind sketched a cozy, domestic scene this time: just us, sleepily spooning on a couch while watching some mildly interesting show about a massive bookstore on TV.

“I am so glad you’re home. This is perfect,” I murmured, and he pulled me closer.

“I know, it’s great. Couch naps rock,” he said, kissing my neck. “Love you.”

“Love you, too.” Nestled warm and secure and utterly content in his embrace, I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

And the dream faded.

And I woke up, alone in our bed, the morning light of the real world sneaking in through the windows to remind me that my husband is still deployed, still thousands of miles and several time zones away from being able to indulge in a lazy afternoon nap with me. Not fair, I thought, muzzily attempting to reconcile the dream’s feeling of solidity with the waking evidence that my husband had been present only in the private universe of REM sleep. Not nice.

It was nice, though. Even the twinge of disappointment that it was just a dream does not cast an irredeemable pall over the tranquility and joy at the heart of my sleeping brain’s creation. Even though he is oceans and continents away, I experience Sampson’s love as a strong and daily presence in my emotional life. My dream this morning, however fleetingly, let me feel as though he were physically by my side.

I miss him very much. Very often my waking thoughts of Sampson’s return focus on the excitement and emotional high of his future homecoming. While wonderful and special and all that good stuff, those dizzy heights are not our favorite part of a reunion. My dream this morning vividly reminded me of all the quieter pleasures to which we can look forward upon his return.

“Ready the couch for the best afternoon nap ever” is definitely getting added to my pre-homecoming checklist.

MilSpouse (First) Friday Fill-In #72

8 Comments

Okay, I know I said my next post would be Part II of “Who’s Winning, Me or the Deployment?” I decided I wanted to play the MilSpouse Friday Fill-In game today instead, especially since I missed it in May. WWMotD (Part II), in which we shall investigate the arguments in favor of the thesis that I am rocking this deployment, should go live sometime after (East Coast) sundown on Saturday; I’m sure you’re all waiting with bated breath to read about my deployment triumphs. 😉

What’s one thing in the past month you would have changed?

I would have stopped just a few bites sooner on my birthday cheesecake.

What was your favorite thing that happened in May? 

My parents and my little brother (who is actually much taller than me) came to visit for my birthday. Their stay was peppered with the eating of many delicious meals, boundless laughter, and a few abundant cocktails. Oh, and warbirds.

The P-51 Mustang is surely a “bewitching” airplane. Just look at the nose art.

Boiling the wort

Our brew pot has been sitting idle for far too long.

June includes the first day of summer… what are your plans for the summer?

Apparently my “plans” include a variety of home maintenance items, but they totally don’t count because they’re no fun whatsoever.

My real plans (i.e., the fun ones) include flying as often as possible, seeing a concert at a winery, riding my bike, brewing another batch of beer, and grilling many delicious meats and veggies.

Do you use the services on base (gym, financial planning, family services, daycare)? And if so, what’s your favorite one? (Thanks to Shanon at Modern Meets Traditional for this question!)

We did go to base legal to get wills, advanced directives, and springing durable powers of attorney (a phrase I find enormously entertaining to say: “Springing durable power of attorney! Springing durable power of attorney!”) drawn up for both of us. I found the process to be pretty streamlined for something that involves paperwork.

I strongly recommend that all military couples ensure that both spouses have wills and that they are up to date. It’s simple. Make an appointment at your base legal assistance office. They’ll provide you with worksheets that you each fill out and bring with you to the appointment. At the appointment, you’ll go over everything with a lawyer and make another appointment to come back and sign everything that needs to get signed. Easy-peasy.

Wills and other subjects relating to death are uncomfortable for a lot of people, but I promise you’ll feel better once you get it done. I’m not saying it was a barrel of laughs to contemplate such sobering scenarios, but we’d rather have the documents in hand and not need them for decades and decades than be caught unprepared by a tragedy.

What are you looking forward to in June?

I look forward to crossing another month off the deployment calendar and being one month closer to Sampson’s return. That’s always a worthy milestone to me.

Are you a military spouse/fiancée/fiancé/girlfriend/boyfriend? Hie thee to LTJG Wifey’s blog, snag the questions, and add yourself to the Mr. Linky for this month’s MilSpouse (First) Friday Fill-In!