“Do the next thing”

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“Team Aussie”, originally uploaded by Midcoast Mainah.

Here is a photo that Fran just sent to me this morning. I don’t know who the rest of the guys are. I don’t know which states they are from. I do know that they are all from Fran’s unit. Again, there are guys from Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Maine in his unit over there.

The shirts are Australian Rugby shirts, but the game is Ultimate Frisbee!!

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Thanksgiving Day-Meal, originally uploaded by Midcoast Mainah.

Seems Fran’s Thanksgiving away from “home,” away from home wasn’t all that different than any of ours…except maybe the shrimp!!  Oh, and it wasn’t a 2-star General dishing out our stuffing.  It was a Navy Commander’s wife who baked our stuffing…..does that count?

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Thanksgiving Day, originally uploaded by Midcoast Mainah.

Well, at least Fran had Starbucks for the holiday! Now, the clothing?! Yes, a buddy went on leave to Australia and brought back these authentic Rugby shirts for each of the guys on their Ultimate Frisbee team at his base camp!!

Fran was not at his “home away from home” for his turkey dinner, so he missed being with his camp family, so to speak. We got to talk to him quite a bit. He called home to wish Micah a happy 16th birthday!

I also had the “privilege” of talking to him at about 5:30 am our time! He wanted to be the first to wish me a Happy Thanksgiving, but he thought he was calling me at 7:30am!! I had little trouble getting back to sleep. I was just glad to talk to him. …or at least listen to his voice…I don’t know that I had anything coherent to say at 5:30 am!!

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Flat Daddies Unite!, originally uploaded by Midcoast Mainah.

This past weekend a bunch of us ladies and our children gathered at the Bath National Guard Armory! Where one of these events takes place, you will find any number of flat soldiers, affectionately called “Flat Daddies,” or as my friend Kathy calls hers, her “Flat Boy” (not pictured here,) since it is her son who is serving with Fran’s unit!

We had a nice event. A friend of mine came in and shared with us about doing the holidays without our spouse. She has a lot of experience in that department, and had a lot of good advice and caring thoughts for us.

Sometime I will have to post a photo and tell the story of German TV who came and interviewed a bunch of the ladies, and their children….including Anna!!

How are we all doing? Just fine. Fran’s days are normal and uneventful. That makes me feel secure, but I’m sure it taxes his daily focus. We keep at our daily tasks. Keep the house functioning. Trash day still comes around every Tuesday. The food has to be prepared. Laundry still begs to be done. As we approach the holidays, it is a little different though.

We tried to plan to go to NY to see Fran’s family for Thanksgiving, but the van now has a broken part. We’re driving Fran’s car until we get the van fixed. That won’t be happening until next week some time. We do have “family” nearby, though, and we’ll stay close to home so that squishing into a little car, or taking both little cars, won’t be a big deal! I’m thankful for the re-invite from our friends in Georgetown. They heard of our canceled plans, and they were right there making sure we had a place to spend the day. (more…)