All I Want for Christmas...

OH is coming home tomorrow and I will have him here for just over a fortnight. This is the first time he will have been home for more than 48 hours since August and I absolutely cannot wait. 


When he gets home we can start to do Christmas properly. At the moment we don't have the tree or any decorations up as we want to do it all together so Saturday will be filled with pine needles and tinsel (and probably arguments as well!). Pretty much all of the presents have been bought and are waiting for OH's superior wrapping talents as I get fed-up with it very quickly and don't exactly do a brilliant job. Christmas dinner this year is not just any Christmas dinner; it is coming courtesy of M&S and means I can pretty much just bung it in the oven and spend the time with OH and the kids instead of stressing in the kitchen.


I want to make the most of this Christmas as next year it will be DD's turn to spend it at her Dad's, so it won't feel quite right. There is also the possibility that OH may not be able to come home, depending on which submarine he gets drafted to so it could just be me, DS and the baby next year. Hopefully, with it being the baby's first Christmas he will be able to come home but if he is on patrol, it won't be possible.


Military personnel coming home for Christmas have been in the news a lot recently. Usually it is the Army or Royal Marines that get all of the press but the Royal Navy have been getting their faces on television a fair bit as of late. I know a couple of people that have been surprised to discover that the Navy go away for long deployments, just the same as the Army do!

Most of the country has probably seen this video by now but to link to the title of the post I thought I may as well share it. The crew of HMS Ocean thought they were going for a 7 week deployment but then the conflict in Libya happened and they ended up away for 214 days in total. This video was made (in the fine tradition of Royal Navy lip-synching videos) when they found out that they would definitely be home for Christmas.


Another video that I would like to share is this one:

and this one:
Military Wives Choir welcome home HMS Turbulent


Although I wouldn't recommend viewing the videos if you are wearing make-up and have to be somewhere quite soon! 


This year, I am getting what I want for Christmas and it looks like an awful lot of other military WAGs are getting their Christmas wish too. Plenty of our sailors, submariners, soldiers, Royal Marines and aircrew will be unable to come home however. Many families will be celebrating Christmas without one or more people and we all hope that they will come safely home next year.

'Wherever You Are' by the Military Wives Choir is available for pre-order now with proceeds going to the Royal British Legion and the SSAFA. Even if you have managed not to shed a tear at the lyrics and video, isn't it worth supporting two excellent causes AND stopping Simon Cowell having another number one?

To quote the marvellous Mrs. Doyle

"Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on"

You know you want to!

Are you there? It's me...

I've had a really bad day today. Nothing major has happened, it's just the usual stresses involved with being stuck in the house with a two year old. It's just been an awful day. I've been feeling really positive all week but it seems that the high has been entirely hormonal and today I have hit the worst come-down I have had for quite a few years.

Sometimes I love being by myself. I have a fairly low tolerance for other people; something I seem to have inherited from my Dad. I like to be by myself, doing my own thing and not having to deal with interruptions that I could do without.

Today, being by myself was horrible. DS doesn't count as company since he can't talk apart from to ask for Peppa Pig. I didn't even have DD to speak to as she was at her Dads.

Ever since OH went away, I have had people comparing my situation to being a single parent. I have been a single parent and believe me, this is a thousand times worse. As a single parent I went out to work, had people to take DD off me for the weekend and was massively relieved to be away from a destructive relationship. Admittedly, I usually wouldn't speak to anyone once DD had gone to bed but I spent the rest of the day in company, kept busy and it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Now I am stuck in the house, never get a minutes' peace and miss OH ridiculously. It's not the same at all. 

I know I make things worse for myself because I'm just so goddamn good at coping. I've lived away from home for twelve years and since I've been an adult I have never been able to rely on people who are just around the corner. Maybe I should learn to stamp my feet and demand attention but the people that I need are already overstretched and I don't want to put extra pressure on them.

I know that this is just a blip and that I will more than likely wake up tomorrow feeling positive again but it worries me that I am capable of feeling so low for no discernible reason. A chat with OH tonight has perked me up and he will be home for Christmas in five days time so at least I have something to look forward to.

Sometimes though, it would be nice not to be so expected just to cope.