Craziness..

We're nearing the home stretch of this deployment. Things have been SO hectic since Dave left. We've been incredibly busy, which has really helped the patrol pass quickly. Well, as quickly as can be expected, anyway. In the two months that Dave's been gone we've done so many things. I finally have a few minutes to sit down & fill everyone in. I've painted the living room, Shelbye & I have started a garden, & we've gone to Atlanta for Easter & spring break.

Our living room is now a terra cotta reddish color. I think it's pretty neat. Dave & I picked out the color before he left, but we'll see what he thinks when he gets back. :) It's only paint, after all.

Our garden is coming up quite nicely thanks to all the rain we've had the last couple weeks. We're looking forward to fresh corn, lima & green beans, tomatoes, squash, & watermelons.

We visited my family in Atlanta last week. It was definitely nice to get away for a little while. The kids were great on the drive up. Shelbye was a wonderful co-pilot & Chase slept the entire way. We got there late Saturday night. Shelbye went to the lemonade days fair & the Atlanta Zoo with her Aunt Kristy. I enjoyed a nice dinner out with a friend without the kids, which was awesome, but I wasn't sure quite what to do without having to cut up someone else's food or without seeing chicken nuggets on the menu. Wednesday my friend Allie & I took the kids to the Georgia Aquarium. That was Shelbye's second visit to the aquarium, but my first. We had a great time watching all the animals. Shelbye was especially in awe of this HUGE fish with eyes just as big. Shelbye named him "Big Eyes" & picked him as her favorite. The beluga whales were mine. It was definitely a little weird to stand in a tunnel with a ton of water over my head full of sharks. We made sure to take a turn at petting the sting rays & bonnet sharks before we left. Saturday we went to the Georgia Renaissance Fair with Aunt Kris & Uncle Adam (my sister & brother -in-law). It was a lot of fun. Lots of things to see & do. Shelbye got a fairy crown & I bought a pair of super fun stripey socks. Good times were had by all.

We're definitely glad to be home, though. The cats were awfully glad to see us back too.

Thankfully there's not much left of this patrol, & we'll be so happy to have Dave home. We're all really excited for summer & our upcoming trip to Maryland. We won't be able to pin down the details until after Dave returns & we figure out when his stand down will be, but he's mentioned in the last few emails that we should be able to get away the last part of June.

For those of you who are interested in the latest Navy news, Dave made E5 in November. He was frocked then, but actually became a second class petty officer March 15. The time has come for Dave to decide whether he wants to turn this into a career or to get out after this first enlistment. There are several deciding factors, such as the bonus involved, whether he'll go to C school for further training, & whether he'll end up on another boomer or on a fast attack. C school would be in either Kings Bay or Groton, CT. Another boomer would mean staying here or transferring to a boat out of Bremerton, WA. School in CT would mean a fast attack, which would put him on a boat that is stationed out of several possible bases, including CT, VA, CA, or HI. If the school is shorter than 6 months he would have to leave us behind. If it's longer, there's a possibility we could go with him. Thanks to Obama, we're having some issues with the reenlistment process & Dave has decided to hold off until the end of this tour before making any decisions. As of right now, we'll be staying put here at Kings Bay indefinitely.

Pictures of all of our above mentioned adventures soon to follow. :)

4/23 - Edited to add:
I got another email from Dave two nights ago saying he isn't sure if he's going to reenlist right now or not. The window will close on the 30th, so he'll have had to made his decision by then & I'll let everyone know something as soon as I do. It looks as though things might be in the air a little longer.