and then the phone rang

Caleb is on leave this week and next. He has been planning for this since November when the guys were instructed to “put in” for whatever time off they needed for the holidays. And before you go thinking how generous Uncle Sam is to bestow two whole weeks of free time upon my husband, I have to tell you that all time off is deducted from his “leave days” which have been accumulating since… HIS ENLISTMENT. He gets two and a half days of leave for every month of work and I think he has something like 45 days saved up. Not because we’re hoarders or anything. It’s actually pretty hard to get time off approved. You can’t just take a day to sleep in and eat bon bons in bed. There has to be a valid reason. It must be documented.

So with two weeks of leave approved and in his pocket we tentatively made a few plans and threw his combat boots in the closet. See ya next year!

And then the phone rang.

This morning at 7 AM Jackson wandered into our room to tell us Caleb’s iPhone was ringing. I barely had time to squint at the clock and process that before I heard the house phone ring. Caleb vaults out of the bed like it’s on fire and that puts me in a really good mood so I yell “WHO IS TRYING TO TRACK YOU DOWN AT 7 AM ON MONDAY MORNING??” Then I change tactics. “QUICK, OUT THE BACK DOOR AND I’LL TELL THEM I DON’T KNOW WHERE YOU ARE!!” But Caleb’s like “I signed on the dotted line, baby.” And I’m all “I HATE the dotted line.”

Then I hear “Yes sir. Yes sir. Okay, sir.” And he hangs up the phone, heads to the closet and starts digging out his boots.

Some days I like being an Army wife.

Today is not one of those days.