Friday, January 15, 2010

He's On His Way...

After weeks of preparation, Superman left today for his new job. He'll be in the United States for one more week as he does processing at a military base, then he'll leave from there next Friday for his assignment overseas. He's excited to have the opportunity, even as he's worried about leaving us behind. One way or another, however, it begins today.

We rolled the kids out of bed this morning and headed to the airport. Superman's bag was crazy heavy...seriously: 63 pounds! To give you an idea of just how big and heavy it was, please keep in mind that Superman is 6'4". Look at the bag compared to him. It was huge!


(Also note just how tall my 13-year old Valiant has gotten. When did that happen?)

We got him checked in, stalled as long as we could, and walked him to the TSA checkpoint. May I just say how much I miss the way airports used to be? Sitting at the gates and watching all the arriving and departing planes as you waited for your loved one's plane to load. No such memories for today's kids. Nope. Instead, they got to watch their dad unload his pockets, take off his shoes, take his laptop from his backpack, all to finish up with a trip through the metal detector. Sigh. Not the poignant leave-takings from my childhood, that is for sure.


As you can imagine, there were tears and hugs and then we were on our way home. As for Superman? Duh! He was on his way to the wild blue yonder. (He's flying commercial instead of using his cape...he's traveling incognito these days.)

P.S. Sorry if the pictures aren't particularly good. We got a new camera so Superman could take mine with him. So far, I'm thinking I'm heading back to Costco to return the new one tomorrow. Out of 15 pictures, I've got 4 usable ones. Darn it!

5 comments:

Charming said...

Dad's glasses look cool!

Erin said...

He had to have them...can't report to the base with contacts...

Old Time Cindy said...

Erin,
You are so right about airports. It was special to send off or greet a loved one in the day. What an emotional time for your family! Wishing you the best...
Living it up at Lakewood,
Cindy

Anonymous said...

Here's to one very short, safe year. May all your dreams come true and Superman will be flying home to you very soon. In the mean time, you can enjoy a few nights of not having to clean house or cook fancy dinners. LOL That's what I do when Hubby travels. We eat TV dinners and live in our own filth. Good thing he rarely travels.

Anonymous said...

Is it just me, or did anyone else (okay just us women) spend most of the day, wondering how on earth a man could fit everything he'd need for an entire year into that one little suitcase. Yes, I know it's huge, but it's for an entire year. I've seen women take suitcases bigger than that full of shoes for a weekend women's conference.