SKYPE: This ain't your Grandma's deployment!!

After Christmas, we took advantage of some special promotions and ordered Brian a laptop so that we could Skype with him.  I sent the laptop off to Kuwait last week.  Once I took it to the post office, we all started getting so anxious for him to receive it.  We were so close to being able to see him and talk to him, I couldn't stand it!!

Well, today was THE day!  I had stayed up way too late last night waiting for a phone call from Brian because he has Saturday off, so we've made it out little "date" to talk Friday night on my side/Saturday morning on his side. . . . .he stood me up!!  He slept in (some things never change even in a different land).  So, I woke up this morning and quickly got on facebook and found a message that told me to go get dressed and call him . . . . . . . . .  .SKYPE HIM!!!

Brogan helped me call Daddy.  He was so excited to see and hear Daddy on the computer.  He hollered, "Hi Daddy!  I missed you!!"  Ainsley heard Daddy's voice and quickly came running to check it out too.  Oh, what a joy to watch!!  The kids just picked up with telling him stories like he had just been gone a few days for shut-down @ WPE. 

Brogan was so excited to talk.  He was talking and animating his stories.  It was so nice for Brian to be able to see Brogan while they were talking so he could understand everything Brogan was saying.  It's sometimes difficult to understand what Brogan's trying to show you when you're on the phone with him.  Brogan told Daddy that he needed to find his airplane so he could come back home.  When Brian said that wouldn't work, Brogan told him that Mommy would start Daddy's car so Daddy could drive back home.  I wish it were that simple!  Brogan didn't want Ainsley or I to talk to Daddy, so we would have to send him on little "missions" to go get things so we could talk.  Ainsley told Daddy about her report card and all that she's been learning in school this week.  She showed Daddy some of her Christmas presents.  And then Brogan and I went to another room for a little bit so they could just talk like they would do at bedtime.  I think Ainsley and Daddy, both, really needed that!

Then, it was mommy's turn!!  Brian wanted to see the house, so I took him on a home tour - LOL.  I've been working on cleaning out the basement and garage, so he wanted to check out what I've done.  I even took him outside to show him how much snow we have left.  It was so nice to be able to talk to him face-to-face; even if it was on a computer screen.  Brian looked really good and that helped ease alot of my worries about how he's doing.  It just felt so comfortable being able to talk to him and see him and his smile and best of all  - to hear him LAUGH!!  Oh, how I miss that smile and laugh.  It's the laugh that helps me find him in a crowded room and the smile that makes it all better for me.

I started the skype call with a fully charged laptop.  Neither one of us were paying any attention to the time until my computer went dead on me.  I then looked at our conversation duration and it had been 2 HOURS, but it had only seemed like minutes.  We got reconnected and talked for another 30 minutes.  All 4 of us had so much to talk about.  The best part about being face-to-face was that we couldn't multi-task during our conversations.  We had to be fully engaged in each other's conversation.  It was amazing!! 

I'm already having withdrawls and getting excited for our next skype visit from a foreign land.  Now, every time I touch the computer, Brogan runs over to see if Daddy's on.  I don't know how we made it last deployment without skype.  We only did video conferencing about 5 times because Brian didn't have wireless internet and would have to go down to the internet cafe to even get on the internet.  We would sometimes go a week or more before hearing from him and then, it was usually just an email and not a phone call or video.  I'm so glad that technology has progressed!

Well, I best head off to bed.  I need to have a productive day tomorrow.