Okay, so at the moment my parent's air conditioning doesn't work. And we're in Texas. Where it's been 100 degrees.
If I were in my own home I'd be tempted to walk around in the buff.
Anyhow, in my previous entry I left off at the point when my husband surprised me by being at the airport. For those who don't know he's been at military dog training school in Texas for a little over two months. I came out to watch him graduate. My parents luckily live nearby so the plan was that my Mom was just going to pick me up since Tom had class the next day.
But then there he was. Standing there in uniform with a sheepish look on his face.
I was glad to see him of course. But I was sort of hoping that I'd look, I don't know, less scary when he first saw me for the first time after two months. Because at that point after traveling by myself with two kids I looked frightening. My hair was all over the place, I smelled like airplane and I'm pretty sure I had dried crackers on my legs.
Of course I always hope for a movie reunion--you know, where the man and woman run to each other and the man scoops the woman up and twirls her around?
Instead Tom and I walked towards one another and I nearly tripped because my foot got caught on the wheel of Natalie's stroller that I was pushing. So I sort of fell into his shoulder and got a mouth full of his uniform.
"Hi," Tom said into my airplane hair.
"Hdkl," I replied because my mouth was still twisted around his arm.
Then Natalie gazed up at Tom and became shy. "Dad? Daddy?" she said timidly.
"Hi Daddy," Tommy said easily as though he hadn't been gone for so long.
I pulled away and took a good look at my husband. He looked basically the same only his face was obviously darker than before thanks to the Texas heat.
I imagine Tom took a good look at me and hopefully pretended he didn't see the smeared cracker on my knee and the knots that were in my hair.
"I drove as fast as I could to get here," Tom said. "My class just got out...oh...about fifteen minutes ago."
Well. See. I suppose that's SORT OF a movie theater reunion. I pictured him on the highway sitting in his red truck swerving around cars and shouting, "Move people! I've got to get to my WIFE!" in a dramatic voice.
"I'm glad you're here," I said and hugged him again. Because it was true. I had missed him.
My Mom came over and gave us all a hug and we headed out to her car. Tom had decided to come back with us and stay for dinner--mind you, the base is about 40 minutes away from my parent's house but he wanted to spend time with us.
So we drove over to my parent's house and Tom helped me carry my stuff into the bedroom. Then he pulled me to him and we kissed.
"I missed you," he said.
"I missed YOU," I replied.
We smiled up at each other and it would have been a poignant moment. But then Natalie rushed in and attached herself to Tom's leg.
"MY Daddy," she said and tossed me a stern look.
We had Chinese food for dinner and it was delicious. I'm a huge fan of Chinese food. Then Tom had to get back to the base because he graduated the next morning.
We all showed up for his graduation the next day. I think we were the only family members there to be honest. Mainly because it's a real quick ordeal. But I wanted to be there. I had told Tom that when his name was called that I'd be all, "WOOHOO!"
"If you do that, I want a divorce," Tom replied. I'm not sure if he was joking or not.
When we first walked into the room one of Tom's classmates took a good look at us and went, "Hey Tom. I saw your family. Hooah."
Um.
Is Hooah a good thing or a bad thing? I THINK it's a good thing. I mean, he sounded pleased. I was tempted to tap him on the shoulder and be all, "Excuse me, sir? But when you went 'hooah' was that a compliment or was that a polite way of saying that my hair is scary and that I have no business wearing shorts in public?"
I didn't ask.
When the ceremony began there was an officer who got up front and started to ramble on about America being a wonderful country and how our soldiers were fantastic people and how they took pride in their country and..
Well, to be honest, I half expected him to break out into song. He seriously was THAT passionate.
If he were in a Disney movie he'd have definately started dancing along the walls and singing about how beautiful our flag was.
Then he shouted something and all the members of the military dog training school jumped up in unison with their hands clenched tightly at their sides.
It frightened me to be honest.
Everything was so serious.
In fact, I had asked Tom what his teacher had told him when he got his certification to be a dog trainer and he was all, "My teacher told me good job and to get out of his sight."
Oh. Well.
The military sure is FRIENDLY....
I'd have wanted to be praised and such. If I were told to get out of someone's sight I think I'd cry.
Anyhow, the class member's names were called and one by one they took their award and then shook a bunch of people's hands. When Tom's name was called I really wanted to go, "WOOHOO!" but it didn't seem appropriate. Plus Tom's instructer looked a little strict and I was worried that he'd shout at me to drop down and give him twenty. So I bit my tongue.
Then there were 3 top awards. There was an award for the Block One portion of the class which was the very beginning. Some dude with really pointy ears won that.
Then there was an award for Block Two. I didn't think much of it. I mean, I know my husband is a good soldier but I guess I sort of regard him of how he is at home. Which is sort of like a slob. I know he doesn't act like that at work but in my mind he totally leaves his dirty socks on his desk and he scratches his butt in front of people.
So when his name was called for the top student in the Block Two portion my jaw dropped open.
Really?
My husband?
Well of COURSE my husband. He's a fantastic soldier, didn't you know?
It was SO HARD not to go, "Woohoo!" at that point. Instead I clapped extra hard.
I wanted Tom to turn around in his seat and flash me a thumbs up sign. But that wouldn't have been appropriate because they were still all serious up there.
There was one more award for the student with the best test scores and pointy eared guy won that one.
Oh well.
Afterwards the class had to jump up with their hands at their sides until the instructor said they were dismissed. Then they were free to go.
"At this point we should go up front and shake all the class member's hands," Mom said seriously.
Um. What?
Sometimes she forgets that she's not a Colonel anymore.
I've never shook a bunch of stranger's hands. I've told them good job but if I stuck my hand out I think I'd SCARE them.
"Go on. Shake hands," Mom hissed at me as she boldly walked up to other students and flashed her hand forward. "Good job," she said in her Colonel voice that I grew up with.
I didn't shake hands. That would have been too weird. Instead I just told them good luck as I made my way to my husband.
"Daddy!" Natalie called out. She practically leaped out of my arms and into his.
"Congrats on your award, Tom," I said and gave him a hug. No kiss because he's always paranoid about PDA when he's in uniform. I wanted to play the part of doting wife so I stuck my arm out and shook Tom's bewildered hand.
"What are you doing?" he whispered to me.
"Telling you that you did a fantastic job," I said. Then I leaned over and said softly, "You have no idea how hard it is for me not go be going woohoo and clicking my heels in excitement."
"I'm glad you restrained yourself," Tom whispered back.
So yes. My husband now has his certificate to be a military dog trainer.
This means we might be moving from the base we're currently at.
We're hoping for either Texas or Ohio. But Tom says that there is a chance that we could get Andrews AFB which is in Maryland. He could possibly have missions as security for the President if he got that one. Wouldn't it be cool if the President were giving a speech and you could see my husband in the background? I'd be all, "BLOGGERS! You see that bald man in the very back? That's my man!"
We shall see, I guess.
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