Ok girls, I am freaking out!!!!! :yay:
I had my last visit with Josh this Sunday and it was great. He gets out in 9 days and I am so freaking excited I don't know what to do with myself. I know I am supposed to breath and relax but I feel like I am about to get a panic attack any minute. (In a good way though). During out last visit we talked about what we wanted in the near future as well as further down the road. He wants to introduce me to his parents the first week he gets out and there is a Disney trip already planned out for the first Sunday he is home with his sister and her family. The visit was perfect in every sense, he just confirmed all the reaosns why I love him and he is so damn cute I can't wait to kiss him from head to toe. Problem is I still have 9 more days but it feels like 9 more months. Inhale.... Exhale.... Ok I feel better :p

Janel,

this is fantasic! I wish you both the best.

Congradulations to you. i feel your excitement. this is such wonderful news!
good luck to you oh both of you!

Congrats Janel,
Take deep breaths youll be fine!!

Congratulations Janel...I'm so happy for you girl!!!! I wish nothing but the best of luck to the both of you. God bless and take care of each other. Have a great time at disney land ;) May God bless the both of you lifes with happiness.

Congrats and ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!! I hope the transition goes smoothly...

Deb

I feel the exact same way!!!!!!!:) I am sooo nervous, excited and anxious. Plus, all these other emotions all together that I don't even think have names:D Congradulations!!!!!! And good luck!!!!!!!;)

Thanks everyone, not just for your warm wishes but for the support through these 18 months. PTO was truly a great support system.

Congratulations to you too April!!!!

WOW Becky I hadn't noticed you are probably feeling the same thing as well. Congratulations to you too :)

Congratulations Janel!!! I am soo happy for you. I hope you continue to maintain composure so you don't have a panic attack:) 9 more days WOW...when I was reading your post I could feel your excitement and joy. I hope things continue to go great and everything works out for the best!!!!!! Good luck with everything and enjoy!!!!! Remember inhale...exhale!!!! Hugs:p
-Jackie

OOOhhhh..... I just love Coming Home Countdowns!!!

Congratulations and Welcome Home!!

JJT

Congrats girl!!!!!!!!!!! I just wanted to know how quickly the last two months went by for you???? It seems like these months are dragging!!!!!!

Congrats (((Janel))) do I need to send you a brown bag to breath in/out? I'm happy for you. This is wonderful news!! :clap: :dance: :yay: :dance: :yay: :dance: :yay: :dance: :yay: :clap:

Yep same feelings here Janel....I hope you two have a fun time together. I'm so so happy for you!!!!! Keep us updated on how it went!

Gosh I read all these posts and so many of our guys are coming home. Isn't it great? I am so excited for all of us. Now, if we can all just live through it. I remember when the number of days we have left would have seemed so short, now it seems like years. I guess the closer we get, the slower the days seem to be. Weird how that works, isn't it? I told my guy the other day it must be because early on, just to cope we don't see the months as as long as they are - if that makes any sense. OMG I am excited for all of us. You that are about a few weeks or less to go, hang in there and don't forget to check back in.
Mary

Congrats and good luck!!!!!!!!!!

8 more days!!!!! (LOL)

MsChiku: Don't worry I work at a clinic, we have plenty of brown bags and will surely use a few of them throughout the week. You think I am kidding don't you? (haha)

Tonysgirl: How quickly did 2 months go by? Well, just think back to when the year 2004 started, it doesn't seem that long ago right? yet it's been 7 months already. However if they told me I had to wait 7 more months I would go crazy.

Thank you everyone for your good wishes, I will definitely stick around, in fact I will have Josh say hi to everyone when he gets home.

Janel

I'm excited for you.

try to calm down and...

How are you felling Janel 8 more days!!!

Hey RAM, I am totally excited but forget about me, how are you feeling???? You have one day left right? Are you going to pick him up?

Janel I know you are too excited just like me.
I am ok ya we have 1 day to go :eek: :D :eek: :yes: :haha: :dance: :dance: :yay: :yay: :clap: :clap: :sneeze: :sneeze: :sneeze: :heart: That is prety much how I am felling Today (lol)

Wow RAM what is the plan for tomorrow? God love ya

Well Im going to pick him up at 650 am at the bus station. We have 1 and half hour to get him to the halfway house. So not sure how we will take advantage of that time.

7 days!!!! I am down to exactly one more week and he usually calls on Wednesday so I might get my last prison call today. After this week I'll actually be able to call him, WOW!!! :D

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOO!!! !wow i am sooo happy for you !! is he going to stay with you or in a halfway house??!?!

How exciting!!

He will be staying at his sister's house until he gets a place of his own which hopefully will not take long, we are thinking maybe a few weeks.

Gee let's all see if we can figure out how RAM and her man can spend that 1.5 hours? hmmmmmm

6 days Janel how are you hun?

Kepp us posted (k)!!!

Hey RAM

I don't know if this is normal or what but I am down to 5 days and I am feeling like crap, quite literally. I didn't go to work yesterday. I have what seems to be the flu. Watery eyes, sore throat, aching body, headache, stomach ache, the whole nine yards. :(
The sore throat finally went away as well as the stomach ache but still have everything else. Do you suppose it's the stress or just coincidence?

I have five days to get better :o
I am already taking medication for it but I just pray it doesn't stick around too much longer.

Janel if you are still sick when he comes home... the silver lining is that he can take care of you and pamper you back to feeling good. :D

Hi MissOne

That is very true, problem is we have a disneyland trip scheduled for Sunday with his sister and would hate to cancel, but no matter what you are right, worse case scenario I stay home with him taking care of me. Thank you for reminding what really matters. :)

welcome :)
welcome :)
welcome :)

Congrats And Best Of Luck To U Both!!:)

Hey Janel it's getting alot closer chic I'm dow n to 7 days or actually 6 days and awake up!!!!!! We made it..... Yay...... Good Luck Girl Go get your man!!!!!
:clap::yay: :clap: :yay: :thumbsup:

((JANEL))

First - CONGRATS!!!!! You're first few days will be like a second honeymoon. But coming home is stressful to them - and then also to you, I won't lie to you there. Jobs, classes, probation/parole rules, etc need to be mastered - they need a "healthy fear" - my husband has an "unhealthy fear" , petrified if he jaywalks, he goes back to prison!

Those first few days will be like a dream, they'll go by fast, you will just stare at each other like no other time you've ever had. Be patient with him, adjustment if hard - my husband spent a relatively shor time inside and it was hard for him. He's now been home 3 months and it's finally starting to get back to normal, cept for the depression and guilt, but he sees a therapist every week which is helping.

Don't ever be afraid to ask for help! Whether it be his PO, pastor, family, etc - if you need it and don't ask, that's just not responsible. He needs all the support you can give him - but DON'T smother him! Give him some alone time to adjust, get things in order, come up with a future plan.

You WILL get by these next few days! I know my last 2 weeks were almost as bad as the 1st 2! I was so nervous, anxious, and excited - I couldn't sleep, eat and I cleaned so much you could lick the floor! He coulda cared less if the house was a mess! Since KEvin spent Christmas and his birthday inside, I made sure I had gifts wrapped (in Christmas and b-day paper) waiting for him, he had a blast opening gifts. Stock your frig with his favs, and he WILL eat like he hasn't eaten in a month that first few days - but it'll taper off! We ordered a pizza the first nite he was home and thank God I got 1 pc of the LARGE pizza we ordered!

Enjoy. Rememeber. Write every feeling down in a journal (I kept one just for his incarceration). I can't stress patience enuf - even tho they can't wait to come home and think things will be back to normal immediately, it takes a while to adjust. It's normal, don't worry. If your insurance covers therapy - I HIGHLY reccoment it, the best thing we've done since he's been out. Give him a week to relax, but them he needs to stay bust - looking for work, a hobby, helping around the house, etc - staying busy is a little one of the keys to success.

I'm soooooo excited for you. I couldn't get the house clean enuf, I was scrubbing till 2am, finishing projects I was working on to surprise him with. He's amazed at what I can now do (woodworking, repair, managing finances much better than he did - had to, I was soooo short on $!). Enjoy.

Please, please, seek counseling if those first few weeks are stressful (and many times they are super stressful) Don't let your relationship suffer because of re-adjustment, it's not worth it. I wish you the very best. Stay busy this week, clean, do projects, shop, wash his clothes again so they smell fresh - makes the time go by faster!!

Keep us updated on the goings-on! It's wonderful when they come home - stressull after they begin their legal stuff (parole/probation) but sooooo worth every second of it.

Blessings!

Marci, thank you for that post, there were a lot of things you said in there that really helped me. Sounds like you've done well with a realistic, patient and open-minded approach to adjusting, and I hope I can do the same.
Mary

Marci,

Thank you so much for all your advice. I think I am putting too much pressure on both of us and that can't be good. Trying to make sure everything is perfect will only drive both of us crazy and I think he was able to feel that when he called last night. In part I think I am nervous because we had only met for one month when he went in and in a way we are finally starting a relationship, one which we've never had so I don't know when we can honestly say we are back to "normal" since I don't have anything to compare it to.
In regards to counseling, I don't believe I need it, at least not yet :D but I do have a shrink I have gone to in the past so finding one will not be a problem. I also have a great support system at home. My mother has really been there for me and she's also a shrink so I have two in one in a way. (LOL)

Today is my father's 60th birthday and we are having about 30 friends over. I will most likely be the hostess so I know I will be pretty busy today. I am feeling much better in terms of my health with the exception of a headache I've had for a few days and just wont go away.

I will definitely stick around PTO because I always get great advice and support from all you wonderful ladys.

I will keep everyone posted....

Less than 48 hours!!!!!

Any last words of advice??? :confused:

Get off of PTO and go plan the Disneyland weekend! :D

I can't help it I am addicted to PTO. :o

41 hours left!!!! (hee hee) :D

Bring those brown paper bags with you!!!!!! In fact send some to me:haha: I'm scared I might pass out cause I forgot to inhale!!!!!!!! That would be soooo embarassing. Good luck and bring him home in one piece. Try not to hurt him;)

:yay::dance: thats right bring him home in one piece. Congratulations!!!!!!! I'm so very happy for you girl, try to breathe. Hey DonsGirl22 I think our men is getting out the same day...July 26th? My counter is set to sunday and a wake up so the wake up isn't even on it. God bless everyone that has a loved one coming home and enjoy them!!!!

I will definitely bring the brown paper bags :faint:

22 hours left!!!!!!

How in the world am I going to go to sleep. I have to wake up at 5 in the morning but I don't think I'll be able to sleep at all.

LOL try to get as much sleep as possible. I say I wouldn't be able to sleep either. I bet your man isn't able to sleep either. I know mine hasn't been able to sleep since Sat. :yay: 21 hours left

my husband has an "unhealthy fear" , petrified if he jaywalks, he goes back to prison!

mine too! forget about it- long story


JANEL! ONE MORE DAY! good luck!

Thanks for posting Marci.

Janel where you at?

:yay::dance: thats right bring him home in one piece. Congratulations!!!!!!! I'm so very happy for you girl, try to breathe. Hey DonsGirl22 I think our men is getting out the same day...July 26th? My counter is set to sunday and a wake up so the wake up isn't even on it. God bless everyone that has a loved one coming home and enjoy them!!!!

Yup, July 26th:D My counter is set to the day. I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep either!!!!!!!!! :thumbsup: