WHIRLWINDS OF LOVE AND ROMANCE....JIMMY COMES HOME FOR THE THIRD TIME

JIMMY CAME HOME ON WEDNESDAY, FOR HIS THIRD FURLOUGH....EVERYTHING WENT JUST GREAT....FULL OF LOVE, ROMANCE AMD LAUGHTER...TIME SEEMED TO SLOW DOWN A LITTLE FOR US BOTH, AND THEREFORE WE WERE ABLE TO ENJOY EACH OTHER EVEN MORE SO....JIMMY LOVES TO PLAN THINGS...SO, HE HAD TOLD ME THE DAY BEFORE,  "FRAN, I'LL BE HOME BY 1PM, AND THEN WE'LL BE IN BED BY 3:30 PM (HE MEANT  FOR AN AFTERNOON SIESTA, THAT'S ALL   :)   .........WELL, WE WERE IN BED BY 3:40...JUST 10 MINUTES LATE!   :)

WE ALSO HAD A FEAST OF FOOD THAT DAY....WELL. YOU KNOW HOW ITALIAN HOUSEHOLDS ARE!.....WE HAD CHINESE FOOD, WHICH WE BOTH LOVE, PASTA (ELBOWS) WITH BUTTER AND CHEESE  (JIMMY'S FAVORITE), SAUSAGE AND PEPPERS THAT I MADE, UPON JIMMY'S REQUEST, WHICH HE LOVES.....I MADE HIM LARGE PITCHERS OF ICED TEA, AND ICED WATER, AS THE DAY WAS A HOT ONE! 

THE BEST PART WAS LATER THAT EVENING...JIMMY HAD BOUGHT ME A 5 LB. LOBSTER.........IT WAS THE HUGHEST THING I EVER SAW!.....JIMMY LOVES TO FEED ME LOBSTER!.........HE HAD TO CRACK IT OPEN FOR ME, AND I SAT THERE EATING THE WHOLE THING.....HE ENJOYED WATCHING ME EATING THAT LOBSTER, SUCKING ON HIS CLAWS, ETC....IT TOOK ME ABOTU AN HOUR AND A HALF TO FINISH IT.........SO, I SAT THERE IN HAPPINESS, EATING LOBSTER, AND SIPPING A GLASS OF WHITE WINE......WITH MY HUSBAND WATCING ME, AND FEEDING ME......WHAT MORE COULD I ASK FOR?!

WE ALSO SAT OUTSIDE IN THE EARLY EVENING, AND JIMMY INSPECTED THE GARDEN, ETC.  HE TOOK PRINCE, OUR DOG, FOR 2 WALKS....AND PRINCE WAS SIMPLY IN HIS GLORY!.......PAPPA HAD RETURNED!...AND PRINCE WAS SO EXCITED ...THE ALPHA IN OUR HOUSEHOLD HAD RETURNED...AND SO, NOW, PRINCE COULD RELAX, BECAUSE THE ALPHA MAN WAS PROTECTING HIM.........PRINCE IS REALLY A  "MAN'S DOG."....HE LOVES ME, A WOMAN, BUT HE IS ALWAYS ON GUARD WITH ME...ALWAYS BARKING AND GROWLING, AND PROTECTING ME FROM OTHERS...WITH JIMMY HOME, HE COULD RELAX AGAIN, AND BE HIS PLAYFUL SELF!.............ALSO, JIMMY BROUGHT LOTS OF FOOD HOME FOR THE PETS, AND LOTS OF TREATS, TOO....JIMMY LOVES THE CATS, MISTY  AND JIMBO,, VERY MUCH...AND THEY WERE CLIMBING ALL OVER HIM....MISTY, ONCE AGAIN LAID ON TOP OF JIMMY'S TUMMY, WHEN HE LAID IN BED.  MISTY GETS JEALOUS OF US, AND STARTS CRYING AND TRING TO GET BETWEEN US, AS WE LAY IN BED TOGETHER....AND JIMBO...WELL HE'S  HIS USUAL SELF...A LITTLE ALOOF...BUT HE IS DADDY'S FAVORITE...

AND AS THE HOURS WENT BY, JIMMY MADE HIS CALLS TO CHECK IN TO KINTOCK....THIS TIME, I KIND OF WATCHED THE CLOCK, AND WOULD REMIND HIM TO CALL...HOWEVER HE KEEPS TRACK OF IT HIMSELF, AND DOESN'T NEED TO BE REMINDED...HE IS VERY METICULOUS AND ORDERLY ABOUT MAKING THE CALLS.

AND SO, THE LAZY, HAZY DAY OF SUMMER PROGRESSED...ALL WAS HAPPY AND CONTENT....JIMMY WAS ABLE TO RELAX, AFTER HIS LONG TRIP FROM KINTOCK....AND THE DAY TURNED INTO NIGHT....AND WE WATCHED SOME SHOWS AND MOVIES ON "ON-DEMAND."  (amongst other things, we watched Spiderman 2, one of Jimmy's favorites).

AND SOON, IT WAS MORNING AGAIN...AT 8 AM, JIMMY TOOK A TAXI FROM OUR HOUSE TO THE BUS DEPOT...AND ONCE AGIAN, PRINCE STARTED TO CRY AND WHINE AS JIMMY WALKED OUT THE FRONT DOOR.  I HAD TO HOLD HIM ON HIS LEASH, BECAUSE HE GETS QUITE WILD...AND HE MADE THAT WHINING, CRYING SOUND.  WE STOOD AT THE WINDOW...I HAD MY ARMS AROUND PRINCE....HIS EYES NEVER LEFT HIS DADDY...AND AS THE TAXI PULLED AWAY, PRINCE NEVER TOOK HIS EYES OFF IT...HIS LOWER JAW DROPPED, AND HIS EYES SADDENED.....YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW INCREDIBLE IT WAS, TO SEE A DOG REACT THIS WAY, TO THE DADDY HE LOVES.............AND SO, THE HOUSEHOLD WAS QUIET AND WE WERE ONCE AGAIN ALONE....BUT THE FEELING OF JIMMY'S PRESENCE WAS, AND STILL IS, EVERYWHERE IN THE HOUSE.........

WE ALL WENT BACK TO SLEEP, AS IT WAS EARLY, AND WE WERE TIRED.......JIMMY , OF COURSE, CALLED ME FROM THE BUS STATION...

LATER, I WENT TO WASH SOME FORKS AND SPOONS JIMMY LEFT SOAKING IN THE SINK.  MUCH TO MY AMAZEMENT, I FOUND JIMMY'S SCREW-DRIVER THERE, SOAKING AMONGST THE SILVERWARE....I SMILED TO MYSELF...YES, INDEED, A SURE SIGN THAT  DADDY WAS HOME...MY MAN WAS ONCE AGAIN IN THE HOUSE!.....AND THE PRESENCE OF HIS SCEW-DRIVER ATTESTED TO IT!

AT ONE POINT DURING HIS FURLOUGH, JIMMY LOOKED AT ME, AND SMILED....."FRAN,"  HE SAID, "YOU ARE BACK TO YOUR USUAL SELF...THAT IS, YOU ARE THE SAME WOMAN YOU WERE 29 MONTHS AGO."..............WHAT HE MEANT IS THAT I WAS THE SAME HAPPY WOMAN I ONCE WAS BEFORE HE WENT TO PRISON.....THE SMILING WOMAN, JOKING AMD LAUGHING...IN LOVE WITH MY MAN AND LIFE AND THE WORLD, IN GENERAL............YES, THROUGH THIS WHOLE PRISON EXPERIENCE, I THOUGHT I MIGHT HAVE LOST MY PERSONNA......BUT IT IS THERE, STRONGER THAN EVER!.......AND JIMMY AND I HAVE SOME "ELECTRICAL CONNECTION,"  THAT IS THERE, MORE THAN EVER!

WITH LOVE, FRAN AND JIMMY