the wait is over

he's HOME! yay! :) the tennessee was gone for 67 days but they're back now, and that's the most important part, in my mind. they had a great patrol and it sounds like all inspections went well. rob even got the news that he was selected for commander (to put on the rank in july '09) and best of all, the captain seems pleased with the world right now.

however, being back home means the sailors are put back into the same domestic squabbles they left 2 months ago. rob fully expects his workload to increase as young sailors learn their lessons the hard way. we've all been 20-something, but i wish there was some way to save these people from themselves. DRAMA seems to be the word of the day!

homecoming activities went well. there's no pictures though :/

i raced to the beach to try to get a picture of the submarine floating upriver toward kingsbay, but *surprise* the sub was early! i had heard they'd be by at 11am, we left home at 10:20 to drive the 10 miles to the beach. i thought we'd be plenty early (all my experiences with the sub coming home, it's been late every single time), but we got stuck behind some bicyclists who would not share the road! finally we got to the beach where i could see the tug boats floating by from the car...meaning the sub was just passing by. i didn't even have time to get the camera out. i was so disappointed, this could possibly rob's last patrol if he doesn't make commanding officer, and of course, cameras are not allowed near the pier for homecoming.

i watched the boat on by and realized that WOOHOO, my man was inside there and would be waiting on the pier in a few hours so what the hell was i doing here??? i got back in the van (hadn't even had time to unbuckle the kids out of the car, and elisha slept through the whole thing) and headed home to go change into something pretty. i wish we could have gotten some pictures, i think we all looked pretty good. but there was no time to waste...by now i was in a rush to get there!

we made the 30 minute drive to the base, debated an extra 10 minutes about if this was the right gate or if that was the right gate and finally picked a gate and breathed a sigh of relief that we had chosen correctly. (the closer you get to the submarines, the tighter the security and the bigger the guns in the hands of the marines standing next to the gate.)

we stood for about 10 minutes, chatting with the other wives and seeing the sailors drift off the sub one by one. we couldn't really even see the sub which was a disappointment. all we could see was the sail, it seems the piers at this subase are set quite high. at the subase in connecticut, the piers are low enough that you can really see the sub and get an idea of it. i'm not even sure reese or cade could tell where the submarine really was yesterday. there were some HUGE overhead cranes though, elisha was very taken with their movements. (so was i, i'm turning into my father...we both enjoy studying how things are done and then discussing the ins and outs of the process.)

the officers wear tan cotton uniforms and from far away they all look alike...i guess that's why they wear the uniforms in the first place?? :) all men were wearing their hard hats, due to the cranes, so about the only way you can tell them apart (aside from obvious differences like height and belly shape) is their stride. i saw one tall guy and thought it might be rob...the long stride was about right...then as he got closer, i saw his big old eyebrows and realized it was my husband. i whispered to reese, "hey, who is that guy, reese?" she recognized him right away and sounded the alarm... "DADDYYYYYYYY!"

she would have raced toward them but a street divided the pier from our grassy location, and i had told the kids that they needed to stay on the grass for safety so she patiently waited for daddy to walk on over. she was ALL over him, hugging and jumping and giggling and trying to tell him all about the last 2 months in the first few minutes. cade was excited as well, only there was less hugging because of his shoulder and rob didn't want to hurt him. elisha, however, would not even come near him, and instead just gave him a frown. toddlers do not forgive long absences easily.

he looked good. food on the submarine is pretty good and rob usually is not one to deprive himself if it tastes good, so i had expected him to get chubby here and there but he really looks great. tasty even ;) he did look a little pale, but if he had come back with a suntan i would wonder just what they were doing out there. one thing i have noticed is that his hair on top is getting thinner, i think he's getting his dad's hair pattern. but really, it doesn't even phase me. he still looks yummy. :)

the families were all corralled in one area, and i'm an avid people-watcher so i did enjoy the emotions as husbands were greeted. the wives all try to look nice, some try to look sexy, but i think we all agonize over what to wear. i know i did, even so far as to post picture on a private mommy board to get feedback (thank you, juniverse!!). whatever the choice is, a wife should really make sure it's appropriate and it fits. one woman was wearing a pink satin-y shirt and tan short-shorts. she definitely should have picked a bigger size as well as a longer rise on the shorts...when she threw her arms up around her husbands neck, all the wives got a good shot of her butt crack because her shirt rode up and her shorts weren't big enough. is it sad that *that* is what stands out in my mind about homecoming? :/

we stood around chatting/hugging/smooching for about 20 minutes and then some of the crew had to go back and finish up for the afternoon...that included rob :/ we left and came back home. actually i had left quite a bit of cleaning to fill the hours between when we left base and when we had to go back and pick him up. we made a welcome home cake, hung up some welcome back signs on the front of the house, cleaned up the kitchen a little bit, and suddenly the phone was ringing and it was time to go pick him up.

our evening was fun, i wish we would have put the kids to bed at around 7pm so rob and i could have had more time to talk. when the kids went to bed at 8 he was already sound asleep on the sofa. hopefully he can stay awake a little later tonight so we can have some grown up conversation. or, maybe a little less conversation and a little more action ;)