Our First "Weekend"

Today Drake had an appointment in Chicago to have his leg checked and got his brace off. He said the Dr was optimistic because he has a little more range of motion on his other foot. If he keeps stretching, there's a 30% chance he may not have to get the other leg done. After the appointment Carrie dropped Drake and Ashtyn off to me for our first weekend together since Brent has been gone. Well, overnight will do.

Dade has really been missing his brother and sister and I feel like I'm not quite all there without Brent and the kids around. Dade and I went to Prompt Care and were diagnosed with severe sinus infections. We've both been sick to our stomachs from drainage, plus the vicodin for my headache is doing a number on mine, too. That and the fevers and we are a couple of cranky, tired people, LOL.

Brent happened to call about 5 minutes before the kids got here, so he was able to talk to them for the first time since he left Fort Benning. Dade's not much of a phone person, but gets weepy whenever I'm on the phone with him. He has a Hero camoflauge beanie baby and an I Love My Soldier bracelet from when his Uncle Jimmy was deployed in 2004-2004. He sleeps with the bear every night and said he's going to wear his bracelet every day until Brent gets home.

Drake and Ashtyn spent the afternoon on my new laptop with computer games & Dade, of course, tagged along. Then we ran to Walmart to pick up a few things to send. The kids picked out a few snacks to send & I got a couple razors and a BMI scale that graphs your progress, so Brent will know when the cheesecake is outweighing the workouts.

Speaking of that, I've been tasked to tell the story of the heart rate monitor. I've been listening to a virtual personal trainer on BlogTalkRadio named Jonathan Roche. His philosophy is that it doesn't matter if you can only do half a push up, at least you are doing SOMEthing. Now, that's my kind of trainer, LOL. Anyway, I spent months listening and logging onto his website to do his free workouts and then finally broke down and bought his Momentum system, which includes workouts, a heartrate monitor, and a watch that syncs up with the monitor, so that you can really tell the effectiveness of your workout. You also can log on to the website and it will track your progress as well. Brent had been checking it out for a while before he left and I thought that I would like to send one to him, since he was planning on using his free time to work out. (Obviously, he thought he'd have more than he actually does.) Anyway, the system was going up in price (from $70 to $140) and I emailed Jonathan to explain what I was planning and to see if I could get a discount, since I already owned the system. This was less than a week before Brent left. I sent the email at 1140pm and got this response in 20 minutes from Jonathan himself:

Hi Micca,This is Jonathan Roche writing - I am BCCed on all our member support e-mails.I am going to send your husband a system tomorrow that will arrive on Thursday. It is my gift to him for serving for our country - it is the least I can do. Because of your husband and his fellow soldier's bravery, I am able to enjoy a simple and beautiful life with my wife and young son. Because of your husband by biggest worry is getting thousands of Momentum Systems to our valued members each month.To say that my family and I appreciate your husband and his fellow troops (and you and all the family members of the soldiers) would be a huge understatement. Please tell him I said thanks.Also, he will be happy to hear that one soldier in Iraq lost 31 pounds (a female) and one lost 17 pounds (a male) on Momentum. A friend of mine who was serving over their e-mailed me and asked if some of his squad mates could e-mail me with weight loss questions. I sent them Momentum Systems in Iraq and they kicked butt.Anyway, I hope your workouts are going well and I am excited to have your husband on board as one of our newest valued members.

So, Brent was able to take the system with him when he left. Now, I tell everyone how wonderful this man is. He has my endorsement on all his ventures, not only for the excellent service he provides, but for his outlook. I will gladly spend extra on anything he offers, just knowing that he supports our troops the way he does. Brent & I are blessed to have an Officer's salary and to be AGR. I know many of the National Guard troops are taking a major pay cut, and do so willingly to serve their country. People like Jonathan help us to see that all that is not in vain.

Back to our family time. Dade decided he needed new camoflauge pjs and Ashtyn needed a shirt, apparently that is how they show their support :) So, I will take a picture of them and post it to the blog. Drake, of course, did not want new clothes, he'll just be so "camoflauged" in the picture that you won't see him, LOL. Leave it to Drake.

Well, time to get dinner on the table. I'm so glad that everyone takes the time to keep updated on our family. This has been such a great way to communicate with Brent. Honestly, his blog is really how I keep informed, too. His communication has been few and far between. Hopefully as he gets settled we'll hear more from him. Until then, this is a blessing.