A change in plans?

After spending so much time preparing everyone that I would leave, I received a phone call exactly two weeks before I would have boarded a plane to go to the final requirement to deploy: CONUS Replacement Center.  The chief of my department was alerting me that the man responsible for filling deployments wanted to move my date to four months later, possibly move my family to a new location and consequently extend my deployment.  And all of this news fell on Dec 23.  I was only missing my evaluation to be signed out of the hospital.  I was scheduled to work only two more days before taking a large amount of leave to enjoy my family.  After a very tense conversation with a high ranking officer, the decision was stated, "Well, just carry on as if you are leaving and I'll let you know last minute if things change."  What is qualified as last minute if two weeks out is not last minute?

Needless to say, I felt a little like Clark Griswold from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation when he received the jelly of the month as his Christmas bonus.  "Hallelujah... Holy..." Well, you get the idea.  All the hard work of arranging help and respite care.  The time spent ensuring the children would be left in a familiar environment and getting them enrolled in on-post activities... gone?  Really?  It was like Ralphie in the Christmas Story learning there would be no leftover turkey.  It is definitely not what you expect and left me checking my email like a neurotic squirrel looking for a misplaced nut and being on pins and needles until a few days before when no word was received to change my plans. 

That time I set aside to be devoted to me being home and just being Mom still held that reminder that I am a military mom.  My life is not truly my own and I must remember to be flexible.  We don't joke about "flexicution" for nothing.