Week 16, Day 3 - Three More Weeks!

Luke Update:
Just got a quick call from Luke. Today he had his "fight for life" so he knew how anxious I was to hear from him. If you know Luke at all, you know he is not one to brag, but is maddeningly depreciating about himself. So when he called and said "Hey baby, everything is good, I'm fine. I did AWESOME!" You know he must have really, really did well. I have a little over an hour to go before I get all the details of this most difficult and dangerous mock scene. I hope he smoked the guy! Next week he has three tests. Firearms test, classroom test, and a defensive tactics test.

Three weeks! In three weeks I will have my husband home full time (other than the 40 hours he'll be working). I panicked a little when I realized I have developed some bad habits while he has been gone. Habits that will definitely need reversing before he gets home.

1. Shut the door. I must, must remember to shut the bathroom door. Since being the only adult in the house for the past six months, I've developed a "why bother" attitude towards shutting the bathroom door. Besides having it opened allows me to keep an eye on Gwen even though I"m sure she would be fine for the 40 second I'm in there...

2. Wear something nice. I hate to admit this, but sometimes after kickboxing and my shower, I put on sweatpants instead of an actual outfit.  This is something I promised myself I would never do (as I'm typing it's only 3:56 pm and I'm in sweats). Luke hates sweatpants and loves jeans and a nice top. If I'm not careful my sweats may end up in the dumpster. Did you know I didn't even own a pair of pajama pants for the first 3 years of our marriage? Which means, I bought my first pair while Luke was away...OOPS!

3. Cook More. I've gotten into the habit of eating two meals a day instead of three. Eating before kickboxing just isn't an option for me and since I don't get home until 10:30 and I have to immediately feed Gwen, put her to bed, and take my shower, it's nearly noon before I've eaten anything. This is super nice for my diet, but my hulk of a husband needs three meals a day!

4. Keep the cupboards and fridge fully stocked. Okay, so sometimes I'm lazy and sometimes I don't want to spend the money. Occasionally if I am out of groceries and I don't want to go to the store and if Gwen is down for the night, I will eat her baby food. Something tells me Luke won't be okay with eating squashed squash after a ten-hour shift.

5. Ease up. I've become very picky about using the same utensils, plate, bowl, ect all week long. This is something I am NOT going to nag him about. Other hills to die on...

6. Put it back on! Something else I'm embarrassed about is the fact I rarely have my wedding ring on or any jewelery at all. I learned the painful way that you should not wear rings or earrings while kickboxing. Since I go every morning it's just become easier to keep it all off. I know...disgusting of me.

Good news is, is that all these habits are reversible. My hope is that Luke will never even know my little secrets.  Good thing I don't let him read my blog! Invasion of privacy ya know? Yeah, I could arrest him for that.

Little piece of advice before I leave...
When excitedly telling your husband that you just took off your jeans without unbuttoning them, make sure you aren't on speaker phone...

 

Week 14, Day 2 Kickboxing!

Luke Update: One month and 7 days to go until I get him back for good. This will be the longest and hardest month of his life. From here on it it's nothing but tests and mock scenes. Pray for him! Some of the mock scenes can be brutal and during one his partner busted his elbow and had to have surgery. He will be washing out of this class and rejoining another class once his shoulder heals. I'm just praying that Luke stays injury free! Luke's class had their EVOC week a few weeks ago. They drove down to the Troopers Academy and used their drive course. Luke brought along a camera and got some awesome footage of spins, skids, swerves, hydroplaning, ect. Sadly I'm not allowed to share the pictures here. Luke gave me a tour of the academy. It was similar to a college dormitory, but much more stark and bare. I was appalled that he didn't have a single picture of me hanging up in his room, but then realized everyone puts pictures of their family on a bulletin board in one of the classrooms and there he had several of me. :)

After three years of nagging/begging/pleading, Luke got me to sign up for kickboxing! I tried every excuse out there not to do them: To expensive, no babysitter, I don't know anyone, I'm not in good shape ect. He insisted once I started I would love it. So here I am on week two of kickboxing and yes, Luke was right. I love it. He didn't just want me to sign up for the exercise (which is killer), but to also meet more people and just have an outlet for all my energy. Since becoming a mommy my social life had definitely declined and he could tell it was bothering me. Now every morning from 9:00-10:00 I am getting the most amazing workout with some pretty cool people. Most of them have been doing kickboxing for years, but they are patient with me and as long as I try my absolute hardest no one gets annoyed about being stuck with the new girl. :) At the one week mark I was down 3 pounds (silly me was hoping for more, but I know that's just not practical). My friends and family get a HUGE thank-you for splitting the babysitting up so Gwen always has a place to go. I'm planning on taking them all out individually for dinner once Luke is done with academy. If anyone is every interested in joining me for kickboxing, let me know and I'll get you the details. Trust me, you'll love it!