Week 2

Not much has happened in the last week. Joe was training for half of it and couldnt call. But he was able to get online for a few minutes last night and called again this morning. Rigel got a hair cut. He looks very handsome. And I reached 70 followers on my blog!! Hello out there!!

I met a new friend. I know some people think Twitter is just stupid. But I have met so many awesome people through that site. I have physically met two friends in the last 4 months. There used to be this sigma about meeting people online. Everyone in chat rooms HAD TO BE stalkers or murderers. Oddly enough, I met my prom date online 10 years ago. He was a very nice young man and became a good friend in college.

And I'm meeting more new people today! A Facebook group of Ft. Carson Army wives decided that we should all meet. We're going to a park on post since it's so nice outside. Some wives are bringing their young children. Of course, I'm bringing Rigel. My friend Ashley is coming along with her two chihuahuas.

Week 2 has been interesting on an emotional level. I find myself being angry again. Angry that we've only been doing this for 2 weeks, yet it feels much longer. Angry that I can only talk to Joe for 10 minutes every other day. Angry that mail is so slow. Angry that we STILL dont have an APO address!! Ugh!!

But in a strange way, my days are marked with very overwheling swells of pride. Pride for my husband. Pride for myself. Pride for the other wives dealing with the same thing. Pride..... that I am part of something bigger than myself. It's a very foreign thought each time it sweeps over me. I'm not that girl that is boastful about Joe's Army career. He's a soldier... yeah, okay, fine. But lately, it's been much bigger than that. My husband is a Soldier in the United States Army. He is most definitely part of something much bigger than himself. There is a very cynical liberal yelling from inside me everyday. But there is a part of that thought that gets trampled by the pride I feel for him. The pride that I feel when I realize just exactly what he signed up for; the strength these men need to walk away from their families; the bravery they need to complete the task at hand; the sense of purpose they need to do it every day.

I've always been proud of Joe for the man he's chosen to be. But I'm ashamed that it's taken me two weeks of a deployment to understand the commitment he has to the Army.