Jim, have no doubt that I will have NO problem turning his chores back over to him. I have to admit that I thought him going would be no big deal. One less person for me to take care of, no more picking up his clothes from the floor. No more tripping over his combat boots (dd7 broke her collar bone tripping over them right before we moved).
Well, let me tell you. That man did a lot more than I give him credit for. It may not have been much, but it was enough that it should have been appreciated. He would run the vacuum for me. He did the pots in the evening. He ran interference with the kids so I could take a bubble bath w/o the constant "MOM!!". Boy do I miss those bubble baths.
Ladies, let you hubbies know that what they do is appreciated. This has been a learning experience for the both of us.
Al, he does talk to the other chaplains. I asked him long before he left not to talk to me about certain things. "Ignorance is bliss" has been my motto. There was a recent event that he felt compelled to talk to me about because it was so hard on him. I listened (well, we were IMing) and then proceded to purge all of the info out of my brain. I keep telling him that as far as I am concerned he is at a desk in Omaha.
There was one scary moment for me a few months back. I was standing outside with some other wives and the kids. A government vehicle with a few soldiers in class As pulled up and stopped right in front of my duplex. My neighbor's husband is in the same unit as my husband. My heart stopped and I started to panic. The fear that hit was enormous. You don't want it to be your husband, but you also don't want to wish it on someone else. Another neighbor's husband stepped out. He had been to an official thingy and was being dropped off. Boy did I let him have it. I told him to NEVER do that again.
It is hard being the chaplain's wife because I am the one that others look to. I am not comfortable talking to the other chaplain wives either. I have always been independent and hate being seen as weak. (Hence my refusal to fully accept a wheelchair.) I guess that it why this deployment is easier on me than most wives. I just had a few bad days there. I hope I am over it now.
And Gatordad, believe it or not, even chaplain wives can get a little crazy sometimes. Myself and another chaplain wife on our street are known for our "shenanigans". When we walk in to a block party together, the neighbors say "oh Oh, it's the chaplain's wives". We like to cut loose sometimes too. I just don't happen to need alcohol to do stupid stuff, unfornately, I am fully capable of doing stupid things stone cold sober." The chaplain next door actually rides a Harley, complete with the jacket. I guess when the weight of the world is on your shoulders, you NEED to be able to get a little crazy.
Oh, maybe I should not be telling you guys this stuff. Let you guys all think that I am some nun up for sainthood. Then when someone else's camper gets "fiendified" no one will ever guess it is me.