Internal debate

Do I go to bed or stay awake? That doesn't seem like too hard of a question until you see the surrounding facts. It is a few minutes before 4am; the kids have to catch the bus at 8am; I don't hear alarms very well - especially if I'm tired. Why am I up at 4am? Well, I've only been home for half an hour. Yesterday, after lunch, Brian found out he had to show up before midnight to go to Cajun Viper. He was originally supposed to leave Friday. Well, that made us get everything together much quicker. Granted, he had been planning on packing last night, but with the thought of leaving Friday instead of Thursday. So after the kids were done with their homework and Brian got some stuff together, we went out to grab a few small things and dinner. We went to Walmart and Target to try to find a small box of laundry detergent but to no avail. Since we were out that direction, we had CiCi's for dinner. (For those of you that don't know, CiCi's is a pizza buffet.) On the way back home we saw the Dollar Tree and figured "why not?" We didn't find a small box, but we did find a small bottle of detergent and it was only a dollar :-) So we finished up and came home and commenced with the packing while the kids took their showers and made their lunches for school. When they were done, I let them make Brian a card to take with him so he'd have something to remind him of home. Vincent fell asleep at the desk, the poor little thing. Thankfully, he had most of it done, I just woke him up enough to get him to sign his name, and then let both of the kids take a nap on the couch until we were ready to leave. Last minute packing leads to rushing, but it all got done (including the brownies which I'd made for him when we got home). He made it to formation on time, and then the kids (who were sleeping) and I stayed in the truck while Brian went to the armory to get his weapons. I was a little bored, then I started playing Karah's Nintendo DS - Super Princess Peach (pretty cute game). It kept me occupied until my sister got off work and then we started texting back and forth until she got home where we switched to instant messaging. When Brian got back, he came and sat with us for a bit and warmed up. Then the busses came so he joined the rest of the Marines after giving the kids and me hugs & kisses. The kids woke up for a brief moment, then went right back to sleep. After a little while, they finally started to board the busses. On the way to the bus, Brian stopped back by real quick for another hug & kiss and then he was gone. Off for a few weeks to Louisiana :-( He should be back shortly after Valentine's Day. We'll do our Valentine's then. After his block leave, he won't have much longer to be here before he heads overseas.

Well, maybe I will try to get a nap in. Brian said he'd try to call before he got on the plane. If I don't get any sleep, I know I'll never hear the phone ring...or alarm go off. :-s