Some days are easy…until they’re not.

Some days I wake up rested. I sit with my morning coffee, enjoying the quiet and the time to pray. Overwhelm lifts, and I step into the day hopeful, lighter, feeling like this whole deployment thing isn’t so bad.

Today was one of those days. At the two month mark, we are one third of the way through this. And I am thankful that some days, rare as they may be, are easy.

But then you find out your husband’s leave (approved leave, that had already been signed, sealed, and delivered) has been cancelled; and the plane ticket and cruise you booked to go see him in November will have to be cancelled too. I can’t say that any of that surprised me. Truth be told, that’s not really what sent my “easy” day off the rails. It wasn’t until I discovered that the “cancel for any reason” insurance I bought didn’t include our reason that panic began to set in. The tears came, and my day turned much harder than it had been while sipping coffee at 6am.

And what is the deal with insurance companies? They repeat the same unhelpful information over and over and won’t answer a question directly. When you want to clarify the “options” they keep talking about, you discover there is really just one option, and it leaves you wondering why they made it a plural noun in the first place. It’s enough to make the steeliest nerves quiver. And mine were far from steely today.

I hung up the phone and sent a desperate plea via email to the travel agent. When five o’clock rolled around, and I hadn’t heard back, I was thankful we at least had “options” for supper. Thursday is half-priced entree night at Ikea. And what better comfort food is there than cheap meatballs with gravy and lingonberry sauce? I left the unfolding nightmare at home and drove across town, knowing that, left unresolved, it would no doubt come back to haunt me later and likely keep me up all night.

It was while wandering through the as-is section after supper that my phone rang. It was the travel agent, apparently working overtime. She was at least able to inform me that we hadn’t actually passed the 100% refund window yet. We still have another week! That means, regardless of this insurance runaround, we’ll still get everything back for the cruise, minus our deposit (which was sizeable, but still). And there is a possibility of getting 75% of that deposit back.

I’m taking this one day at a time. We’ll have to deal with Air Canada and figure out what to do about the flight tomorrow. But at least I’m hoping to be able to sleep tonight!

Looking on the bright side, my hubby submitted paperwork to request they fly him home for a couple of weeks next month instead. So, even though the Mediterranean cruise is off, I’ll get to see him sooner than expected! And so will the kids! Please pray nothing messes up this back-up plan. I’m learning to roll with the punches, but I’d rather not be forced to the limits of my flexibility.