A few things I love about Daddy not being deployed

If someone knows how to summarize in words all the combined emotions of having a deployed spouse home again, I'm impressed. I don't think I'm even going to try to describe how great it is. Either you already know, and would be reading what you've felt yourself, or you don't have to know, so why suffer through a sappy description? Instead I've made a little list of silly things that have surprised me in how un-silly they are to have again, now that my sweetheart is home. Just to be different, I'm listing 11. We all have a tendency to make lists of 10. Here's my attempt at being nonconformist.

1. Creaks and noises at night don't make me nervous anymore

2. There's someone else to answer the call of, "Mommy, there's poop on the rug!"

3. When we're driving as a family somewhere, I can safely turn to look at the girls, or grab things they dropped

4. I don't need my cellphone on me every waking moment

5. I don't feel the need to check my email every time I walk by the computer

6. It's rewarding again to make a nice meal for dinner

7. The question, "Which do you want to do, the supper dishes or bathe the girls?" is so much better than "Which should I do first . . .?"

8. When the sodas, cookies, candy, chips, etc. start to disappear, I know it's not because I ate them all myself

9. When I want hugs and kisses, I get them

10. Spiders and ugly bugs are a "Daddy" thing again

11. My house being filled with the confusing sounds of 3 simultaneous games of college football streaming in from internet radio, ESPN.com, and the tv doesn't bother me in the least

Welcome back, Daddy! We missed you more than we can say . . .