Lucky Charms & Chocolate Cheesecake

So, we are on day 8 of my husband leaving for his deployment. Which means it'll probably be about another 180 days before he comes home.

Now...you understand the title, right? Comfort foods. Lucky Charms (hidden in the corner of the pantry so my daughters don't find it) and Chocolate Cheesecake...both are delish any time of day. Though it seems that cheese cake would be perfect for breakfast & Lucky Charms will work wonders around midnight.

Sign at Manas AFB where
my husband is stationed.

For weeks (okay, months) leading up to the deployment I have been thinking of ways to cut corners. That is NOT EASY for me. I'm not a perfectionist but I really like keeping a certain standard in my home...one of them is to make as healthy meals as possible (please forget everything I said about a certain marshmallow cereal & cake for breakfast)...I digress... So if I don't cut corners on what my kids eat on a regular basis...that means I don't do microwave dinners and rarely any pre-prepared meals out of the freezer section at all...pizza 1x a week at the most...rarely do we do anything out of a can...do you want me to continue?

So here's how I plan to make the time go by more quickly & cut corners...and it doesn't just involve food...

-Paper plates for pretty much everything

-Paper bowls for things that will drip off of paper plates

It's VERY cold & snowy in
Kyrgyzstan right now.

-increased hug length...if I hug the girls each more often and increase squeeze time from about 10-15 seconds to well over 20...that'll make the day just fly by...cutting corners on the "I'm bored" chatter around the house (come on, give your mama a hug or 3). [This does not include all the extra cuddling & middle-of-the-night visits that I know will be needed...my oldest is an excellent cuddler.]

-Let my youngest eat in a onsie instead of real clothes. You should see her eat & you'd understand. It'll cut my laundry by 1/3.

-Put 1/2 the toys in the garage (to rotate back in at a later date)...decreased pick-up toy time DRAMATICALLY.

-Accept (almost) all dinner invites...you know, a girl's still got a schedule to keep, so it's impossible to keep ALL invites.

-Eat out more. 'Nuf said.

-INCREASED PRAYER...surely that, out of this entire list, will make this time more bearable till the Hubster comes home...

This month, as much as possible, I am planning to focus on all things military in honor of my amazing husband The Major and to all the other men & women out there & their families who are serving bravely. I hope you enjoy the contributing posts by other writers. ;-)

Cheers,
Elizabeth

Your Turn: How do you cut corners or make the time pass quicker when you need to? I'd love to hear our ideas.