The whirlwind tour is over with Scotty leaving this morning for California signaling the end of his leave.  As of the posting of this entry his trip has finished and he is back on base.  We are all pretty sad to say that it is over, for although we only had a few days with all three kids together, we did get to spend significant amounts of time with all of them.

Tomorrow however regular life restarts.  Ben has school, days become routine again, and my truck and the dog will be almost constantly with me.  And although I really do love the routine and predictability of my days, and although hanging with our (really Scotty’s) dog is pretty fun, and although (at third one) having my truck always available makes my life very smooth, I would trade it all in a minute to have them all here again.  The chaos is the challenge, but seeing the dog bag me means one of the kids is around and that makes me happy.  And I’d gladly never drive that truck again if they lived here where I could see them all the time and be what others call “inconvenienced.”

Tonight’s picture is of this morning at the airport.  I realized tonight that I am rarely in any of them as I take most of them.  But I also realized that, to me at least, most of my pictures are really great (because someone is arriving or we are doing something together) or they really suck (because we are saying goodbye) like tonight’s picture.  I suppose it is harder for my future daughter in law to see him go, and I am willing to admit that, but it doesn’t make it any less difficult.

The routine for me will help.  I am sure my dad can explain how to walk through it too.  But for now I will be thankful for the one still here.  

Great times, great kids.

Goodnight my friends and God Bless.


Tommy+