Chad's been gone...

Christmas 2009

for a little over 14 hours. I dropped him off at the airport this morning at 530 to catch a 640 plane to Missouri, where he'll spend the next 6 weeks. He'll miss all of Stuttgart's gloomy winter and return just in time for spring. Doesn't seem fair but that's the military for ya.

Anyways, since he's been gone I've made some interesting observations.

First off, Chad's been on laundry duty this weekend because he had a butt load of 'gear' that need to be washed before today. He also emptied a couple of our over flowing hampers and put their contents in the washer as well. I didn't go downstairs for 3 days. This afternoon, I braved the laundry room to find the tallest pile of clean laundry imaginable to man. You see, Chad ends his laundry duties when the clothes are dry... he then meticulously (or not) builds a ginormous hill of sheets, sweaters, jeans and underwear which waits for me to fold. He also left me to hook numerous pairs of underwear and socks from behind the dryer with a wire hanger. I might have to rethink Chad doing laundry in the future.

Also, when cleaning the kitchen I found a large stash of plastic grocery bags. Like a HUNDRED bags stashed into a corner of the kitchen. I'm not sure what he was saving them for or for how long they've been accumulating but I reduced his collection by 90% via recycling. It had to be done.

I also found two identical jars of salsa... both opened... both half way finished. One definitely had remnants of chips floating in it so I know it was Chad's doing. He also left me a used coffee filter in the coffee pot and a few shoe prints by the front door.

And in the midst of all this... I still miss him like mad.

See you in six weeks, honey. We miss you.