Deployment Survival Kit

The day Corby left, Cheryl's husband, Mike, came over to pick him up & dropped off a HUGE bag full of stuff that I was told was my "Deployment Survival Kit".  So, after I got the kids situated & dried up my tears, I sat down & went through it all & cried all over again with lots of laughing thrown in too.  It was a wonderful, thoughful, perfect gift.  Everything had a little tag with an instruction on it.  I saved all the tags, but wanted to copy them down here just in case the get lost.

1. Flowers to hopefully brighten the day, even though it's a sad day & to remind you how much you are loved.
2. New, comfy PJ's - Let's face it, pj days are an essential part of life & during a deployment, are extremely important.
3. Chapstick - You can never have enough & somehow, things tend to get misplaced more often during deployments, so some extras might come in handy.
4. Pink Duck Tape - Because you can fix anything (& if you can't, Mike's a phone call away)
5. A pair of REALLY big flip flops - One for upstairs, one for downstairs so if there is a bug lurking, you can kill it without touching it
6. Krazy Glue - Sometimes you just need something to stick!
7. 9V batteries - During deployments it seems to never fail that the little things go wrong - like the smoke detector batteries dying.
8. Dove chocolates - You always need chocolate & sometimes you need chocolate that you dont have to share
9. Hershey's chocolate - Sometimes its a chocolate day & everyone needs chocolate
10. Bandaids - For the days that everyone seems to get an owie
11. Cupcake essentials - For snacks, dessert or heck, even dinner
12. Candles - To remind you that there will still be things to celebrate & also not to burn the wick at both ends
13. A box of tissues for the car - During deployments you never know what sappy song will bring on tears
14. Antiviral tissues - To help keep any germs at bay for, hopefully, the whole deployment
15. Flashlight - In case the power goes out or a toy falls somewhere dark
16. Screwdrivers - Sometimes batteries need replaced or something needs fixed & you just dont want to dig in the garage for one.
17. Brownie mix - For a day you need to indulge, relax or just recoup from a long day
18. Warm chocolate chip cookies - The easy way for a treat just for you
19. Scrapbook paper - For those evenings of TV & keeping busy
20. A quick hot fudge brownie to eat during preschool or nap time
21. A new movie for the boys for when you need some peace & quiet
22. A toy microphone because sometimes you just need to be heard over the chaos
23. A set of Disney silverware to remind you that you are always a princess
24. Stationary to write love notes to Corby or just to harrass him & complain
25. Extra stamps - We all know how frusterating a trip to the post office is with the kids
26. Banana laffy taffy to remind you to laugh & treat yourself daily
27. (This was the Ben & Jerry's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ice cream & the tag got left behind but who  need instruction for ice cream?)
28. McDonald's gift card - Just as a reminder that deployments are about survival some days & food is food regardless of where it comes from
29. A towel - Some days you just have to throw in the towel & call it a day
30. Suckers - Turning 30 sucks & so do deployments

I will never forget this deployment or all my great friends that are helping me get through it!  65 days down!