I was up at 6:30 a.m. this morning so that we could leave the house by 8 a.m. to get Raven to the airport on time.
His plane was scheduled to leave at 11 a.m., but it came in at 10:48 a.m., and he was in the air before 11 a.m., so it was a good thing we left a little early.
He arrived in Charlotte, NC, around 12 p.m.
He got upgraded to first class, which he said was really nice.
Then he arrived in Atlanta, GA, around 2:30 p.m., where he caught a bus to base and arrived about 6 p.m.
This time, he stayed in contact with me through text until he got on base, so I didn't have to worry about him.
(Don't you dare call that Red Cross, Mamma.)
He was really upset about having to go back.
Really angry about it.
He did not want to go back.
And there isn't a thing I can do.
Cowboy and I did not force him to join.
This was entirely Raven's idea, and he had a whole year to think about it before he took that final oath.
I don't know what is going on inside his head.
I don't know how much of it is K.S.'s influence.
K.S.'s stepdad is in the Army Reserve, and he's been coaching Raven on what to say and do in order to obtain a discharge.
Raven is going for the discharge.
While we didn't force him to join, Cowboy and I think he should man up, finish Basic, and stay put.
With a wife and baby, the military will probably be the best option for him and for them.
Jobs are not easy to come by around here.
He's counting on a job in the mines, but you have to know someone to get hired there, and we don't know anyone.
He and K.S. think we're stupid, I guess.
We don't know anything.
They don't want to listen to the voice of experience.
He's an adult.
The mistakes he makes, he's got to live with the consequences.
Not us.
So anyway, the waiting begins.
After talking with K.S.'s stepdad and K.S., he's confident he'll be home for Halloween.
I told him to be patient because it may be after the new year before he gets discharged.
I'm hoping that he has no contact with anyone for a while, like they did in the beginning.
Maybe, away from K.S. and her family, he can sit back and realize that jobs are hard to come by around here and that he's going to be a daddy in a few months.
The Army may be the best thing he has ever done.
I told Cowboy the other day that we had the nastiest, trashiest house on the block.
This summer, everyone got lazy and didn't do any yard work.
Between kids tromping through and dropping everything on the ground, the wind picking things up and tossing them helter-skelter, and the wild dogs tearing trash out and dragging it all over kingdom come, the yard was embarrassing.
I think he listened to me for once.
He went out and built a huge bonfire, then he and Peacock spent the whole day outside cleaning until Peacock had to leave to go babysit.
Lucky Heron escaped to his girlfriend's house.
Once Peacock left, I got drafted.
Actually, Peacock was smart and left before the really heavy work hit.
We had a shed that was here when we moved in back in '97, and it was falling down and just plain ugly.
So Cowboy tore it down.
Then cut some limbs.
Then broke up an old rabbit hutch.
Then burned it all.
Peacock got trash pickup duty, and I got limb moving and lumber moving.
I think I should protest.
I haven't worked that hard in ages, so I may not be getting out of bed in the morning.
But the yard looks amazing!
Cowboy has a truckload of junk to haul to the dump on Monday.
Then we need to tackle the side yard and the front yard, but the backyard, which is the first thing people see, is amazing!
I'm heading to bed.
I know that neither Cowboy nor I will have any trouble falling asleep tonight.
That man worked like a mule today, and I was no slacker either.
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