Hello there, it's been two weeks

I know, I know, Two weeks is a kind of a long while but I have had the greatest excuse ever in the world. I had my husband home for his R&R. I got to be wife again for two weeks! It was amazing. We didn't go anywhere or do anything in particular except be here at the house and be a family again. As a matter of fact he just left this morning on a plane to go back. Am I sad? Yes. Will we be okay? I guess we have to be, won't we? It sucks to have to put back on the brave mask again, but I'm used to wearing it by now. The mask seems to have worn a groove on my face. It fits.
I had absolutely NO IDEA that Mark was coming home. It was a total surprise! Okay so here is the story:
So there we were at McDonald's playland on a yucky, snowy Sunday afternoon. The boys were supposed to be playing but they were doing more complaining than anything. Arguing too. I had had enough. It was such a crappy day. Between the snow coming down hard outside and the boys fighting at McDonald's and I was just plain sick of being bored on a Sunday and missing my husband and tired of being so all alone, I had enough. I was a pretty bad mood, but then my phone rang. It was my husband's local/United States phone number that popped up on caller ID. My first thought was this had to be a mistake. Something must be wrong with the service. How can he be calling me. So I answered it purely out of curiosity. I was sure it wouldn't be him. There had to be a mistake, but after I said hello it was his voice that followed. "Hey there, baby!", he said. I was totally confused. "How is it that you are calling me from your local service phone?" I asked him. "Because I have local service in Dallas." was his reply. "WHAT???!!!" I yelled back at him. "what are you doing in Dallas? What's happened?" By now I had just about everybody in the McDonald's playland looking right at me and probably wondering if I was crazy. He said he was waiting for his connection flight to Utah and SURPRISE!! "I'm coming home for R&R" he said. I was hysterical. I was crying, I was running around with the phone stuck to my ear listening to him explain why he wanted to surprise me as I was gathering shoes and coats and boys. We had exactly 3 hours before Mark was going to be at the airport and I was a mess and so was the house. So the boys and I ran home, cleaned the house and changed out of church clothes and raced to the airport.
I'm not going to lie, it has been amazing having him here at home. I have been nervous and worried about him returning home. I have been afraid that he would suffer from some sort of PTSD, or isolate himself from the family like I have been hearing from the other wives here who have made it through a few more deployments than I have. Honestly I couldn't have asked for a better two weeks. The boys still had to go to school and we still had to follow a routine, and the soldier fell right into place as daddy and husband. The first few days he was tired, and I mean TIRED. That whole living on the other side of the world thing had his time off for a while. Slowly he adjusted. I also had to adjust a bit as well. I had to release some control and allow him to take over some duties. It's hard to let go of control--especially for me--the Control Freak.
But we fell right in step with each other and all my fears were put to rest.
Now when he comes home for good in just a few more months I will know what to expect more. Now the countdown for June has started and I can't hardly wait!
Oh, by the way, while the hubby was home, I have been preparing and training harder for the Susan G. Komen Race for The Cure that's coming up this next month. I have been running harder and perfecting my run time. The race is coming up on May 7th and I want to be ready! I received my race shirt and number the other day in the mail  and it's got me so excited! The race is starting to feel more real. I can't wait to get out there with hundreds of women and men wearing pink and all running for the same purpose. I can hardly wait for the day!
So these next few months will hopefully swing by with great speed and before long I will get to be a wife once again and my boys will get to have a Daddy-Monster. (that's what we call him for fun-just so you know)
The boys are about to start Spring Break tomorrow. Yippie-skippie. My spirit is renewed and I feel a strong sense of hope. I can do this. Bring it on.