Here we go again

It's been a year since we've moved out to 29 Palms and with the year comes another deployment.  It seems strange how calm I am this time around.  Maybe I've gotten used to it and now I've got David, (read Trouble), to occupy my time.  Or perhaps it was the long hours that Billy put in at work which made it seem like he wasn't home much for that year anyway.  Either way, I don't feel as angry and resentful as I was with the previous deployments and I have to say that is a relief.  Poor Billy has had to deal with angry me for the last three years.

Remember in a previous post the positive spin I put on 29 Palms.  Well, after the hot, hot summer and the many miles driven to get to decent stores, I've decided I'm in the category of people who say, "I hate this place!"  I can't do positive attitude anymore about it.  I miss my stores.  I miss being able to drive 10 minutes anywhere and get what I needed.  I also hate being cooped up all summer long to keep out of the heat.  It's horrible!  Sorry, I had to let that out of my system.

Now on to David.  Poor little man.  He just doesn't understand why Dad won't come home from work.  He's still waiting.  When the doorbell rings, he thinks it's Daddy (not that Billy ever rings the doorbell, must be wishful thinking).  So far, the hardest thing about this deployment is watching him missing his dad.  They had such good times together when Billy was here.  They were always playing Thomas the Train.  I think for him, he's lost a play pal, because mom certainly doesn't take enough time to play trains with him.  There's only so much I can take (horrible, I know, but what do you do).

Well, that is that.  I'll probably, and that's a big probably, be updating this more frequently for Billy's sake.  I hope wherever he is, he will be able to get some computer time and get updated on Lyman life in Two-nine.  Oh, and to all family and friends, please come visit!  29 Palms is great in the winter ;).

Minneapolis

At the Minnesota Vikings game against the Detroit Lions!





This was how David was for most of the game.  There was too much noise and too many people and he was overstimulated.  Near the end, though, he was enjoying himself and even cheering "Go Hawkeyes!"  Grandma tried to correct him, but he was adamant about the Hawkeyes!   






 

Flight Plan

For predeployment leave--yes, he's going again, for the third time in three years of marriage. Sucks, but hey you learn to live with it, I think--but I digress.  Anyway, we visited Billy's family in Iowa. I had never been so happy to see Iowa as I was when I got off the plane. Getting there was a challenge and if I didn't know any better, I would have thought that fate was against us going. To start with, Billy booked our flights and for some reason the agent booked them for August 22 rather than September 22. I finally got a chance to look at the itinerary the second week of Sept. and noticed that it was for August. Luckily, the airline was willing to work with us and we only had to pay the difference between the flights we missed and the cost of the new tickets and some charge for each ticket. Perhaps not so lucky, but better than paying the full price, again.

Well, on the day of our departure, we get up at 4 in the morning (if you have or have had a two-year-old, you'll understand the importance of the time). We get to the airport and try to check in. The kiosk tells us to see a representative. We see a rep, holding up the line for the other disgruntled customers. The rep tells us we don't have tickets and we wait a half hour while she calls the company and Billy gets fed up and calls customer service. They tell him we have tickets, but they weren't paid for. On previous calls to customer service to get our itinerary, not a soul mentioned the little problem. I remember having heard Billy say when he was rebooking that we were using the same credit card. So, why the tickets weren't paid for, I will never know. Anyway, the rep finally figured out what was what and finally charged our card. We got checked in, paid for three bags, one being a car seat. On discovering that, the rep, after we paid, said that car seats were free, but couldn't refund us the money. She told us to save the receipt until we got back and they would refund it. Weird, I know, but what do you do. So, after that debacle, we take our ornery selves and cranky David through security. Luckily, that went by smoothly. The security people just loved David so they weren't as willing to pick us out for extra security measures.

We get to our gates and find out our flight is delayed an hour. Billy goes to the hastily formed line and waits forever to see if we can get another flight in Denver.   As soon as he gets up to the podium, they tell him that the flight should land in Denver in enough time to make our connection flight to Iowa. So, Billy waited in that long line for that, comes back to where David and I were and next thing you know, we hear that our flight has been delayed another hour. So, back in the line Billy gets and the lady works on getting us on another flight in Denver. As she's doing that, we hear that the flight has been cancelled. They have to find us other times and flights to get on. She manages to get us flying to Los Angeles, then to Chicago, then to Iowa. Lots of backtracking, I know, but at that point, anything would do.  We wait a couple of hours for our flight to LA.  In that time, as expected, David was giving us hell.  He did fall asleep on the short half hour flights from Palms Springs to LA and Chicago to Iowa, but on the long flight from LA to Chicago, he stayed awake and was so demanding and cranky. Luckily, he wasn't horribly bad that he annoyed others, but it was still stressful to us. After that day, and the horrible landings in the windy city and windy Iowa in which I almost puked up a 9 dollar sandwich, I never wanted to fly again.

David and his Thomas carry-on

This picture is a good indicator of his behavior.  Good thing he's so cute.

Island Park and Yellowstone

Bear and Wolf Discovery Center

Nathan and David

Bears!

Waiting for Old Faithful...

...and waiting.

Thar she blows!  Actually, the waiting wasn't that long.  We got there with nine minutes to spare.

Sleepy Jace

Kaitlyn and David got along so well.  No more hits from David.  What a relief!

Yellowstone Lake

David loved riding the "'icle-ma" (his word for motorcycle).

Grandma was a surprise on this trip.  We were expecting Aunt Nancy's sister, but to our delight, there grandma was.  She bravely got on an airplane and flew in to see us.  It was good to see her, Uncle Mike and Aunt Nancy.

A big thank you to Liz's boss for the use of his cabin and ATVs. 

Bear World.

The petting zoo

A kiss from the deer

The clever little goat knew where the treats were stored.

Swim Lessons