Surviving the First Six Weeks

Wow! Six weeks can go by fast when you're busier than you've ever been in your life! That's pretty much how it's felt around here since Kevin left. Murphy's Law struck at my house. I spent 11 hours in one week at the Hospital with two kids. Brandon broke his foot playing around with his siblings. The ER didn't want him and the family practice doc really didn't want him either. Secondly, nobody could agree on exactly what kind of break he had and if it would require surgery. Finally, he was sent home in a boot and not put in a cast for two days. Bad move on the docs part. He will hopefully have his cast removed 19 Dec. Thankfully, he didn't require surgery. Emily sprained her finger playing goalie at indoor soccer. A girl twice her size came running into the box and kicked her ring finger straight on. Emily was in so much pain she couldn't speak. I knew I was off to the ER again. Thankfully, her finger (one week later) is just fine. Tyler and Jacob were feeling left out so they went to the doctor Friday for upper respiratory and sinus issues. Tyler is required to see a pediatric doctor because he's 2 and Jacob was seen in family practice. Jacob's doc wanted to give an antibiotic, Tyler's did not. Both had the same symptoms. Jacob is fabulous after three days. Tyler is coughing so forcefully, he throws up. Lastly, but not least, our 2 year old "High Efficiancy" washing maching died while 6 loads of laundry waited for a visit. The Sears man said he had to order the part, but wasn't available to come back until the 10th. It's been years since I've been to a laundramat. Thankfully, it's a relatively clean one. Ughh!! Hopefully, life can only get better from here.

Thanksgiving wasn't bad. My sister Juliet was here with us for the month of November. I couldn't have gotten through the above paragraph with my sanity without her help. She and I hosted a family of 4 from our ward for Turkey Day. The other mom and I split up cooking duties and it was an enjoyable evening. We spoke with Kevin just before he went to bad and he had a pretty good day. It certainly was not the same without him here.

Speaking of Kevin, he arrived in Iraq on 20 October. Yesterday we hit the 1/4 way through mark (48 days) WooHoo!! It's been an amazing blessing to be able to speak with him daily. I can't believe I haven't seen my husband or my kids their father for that long. It's best not to look back though and just keep pressing forward in little increments. Kevin has felt pretty safe in Baghdad. He's survived a nearby car bombing and a nearby mortar attack, which I was on the phone with him as it was occuring. He had to abruptly get off the phone and I sat paralyzed for an hour wandering if he was alright. Thank goodness these incidences are few and far between. His day is like the movie "Groundhog Day". He wakes, works out, gets breakfast en route to work, works from 7:30 am - 9:30 pm except for the two one-hour breaks he gets for lunch and dinner. There are various chow halls he goes to so he can mix-it-up a little, then he walks the mile back to his two-man trailor which is on the former Republic Palace grounds (now known as the embassy). Sundays are a little less work. He has church at 2:00 for 45 minutes which is Sacrament and Sunday School. There are 30+ people in his group. There is also a Spanish speaking group and he's had some opportunity to use his second language.

At this Christmastime as the hustle and bustle has picked up, I try to focus with my kids on the reason we celebrate. We our so thankful for our Savior's birth. We decorated our tree last night and it was a joyous time seeing old Hallmark ornaments from childhood and marital memories past. Some brought tears, especially those that are Kevin's and mine as a couple. Thankfully, I got his packages off to him by the deadline so he should have a little of "home" waiting for him Christmas Day. Please take the time if you can to email kevin at kevin.wilkinson@pco-iraq.net . I'm sure he'd love to hear from you.

TTFN

-Michelle