Week 28

Day 197

Mailed off 2 more packages to Joe this week. He has asked for air fresheners and a duster and a swiffer mop thing. I keep having to remind him he's in the desert and dusting will be an endless task. But since he has moved into his room, he wants to keep it clean and tidy. Why he doesn't do this at home just confuses the crap out of me.

And GREAT news! Joe's 12 hour night shift (which is really more like 14 by the time all is said and done) is going to be reduced to only 8 hours!! It's still going to be at night, sorta, but at least he will have SOME down time!! He's already planning on PT time and more sleep. As if the lack of sleep isn't bad enough, Joe hasn't had any time to do PT. He joked that he would fail his PT test because of it. I seriously doubt that would even be close to the truth, he's always been athletic. I am SO happy for Joe!! Hopefully this last half of his deployment will be more bearable now.

I'm going to the University of the Rockies tomorrow to look at classes and maybe even register for one or two. I am excited and so nervous! I haven't been in school since 2007. And now I'm working full time and running a house alone. It's gonna get busy here really fast! But maybe it'll make the time go by that much faster. And I REALLY miss psychology. I LOVE this field. And I think my passion for it will make studying and testing that much easier. I know grad school has to be somewhat harder than undergrad. But my psychology BA was a cakewalk. I loved going to class. I loved reading the material. And I seriously LOVED writing the reports! Sounds so nerdy, right?? But the last paper I wrote happened to be over 35 pages and I still quote those studies. I loved doing the research and telling everyone what I did. Can we say overachiever?? I think I'll be okay with grad school too.

The holidays are coming up pretty fast. The next few months mean a lot to my family. My dad's birthday is in October, my mom's in November, as is Rigel's (and yes, he will have a party), my brother's in December, and mine in January. Not to mention all of the real holidays soon. Halloween will be hard. The last two Halloweens were amazing. Joe has asked me if I'm going to try to carve a pumpkin and to please be careful not to cut off a finger. And then said that he is the husband, it's his job to carve pumpkins. I told him not to worry about it. He hasn't always been my husband. I have carved a pumpkin before. I have been alone for a Halloween before. And it got me thinking. I have been alone many other times in my life, mainly college. And I need to find some perspective for the next few months. It will suck not to have Joe home. It will suck not to be around family. But it's not the end of the world. And as soon as I get through the holidays, Joe will be so much closer to being home.

When I start to miss Joe the most, I think about our friends who just started their deployment to Afghanistan. The wife made a comment when the three of us went to lunch while Joe was on R&R. Our friend's R&R is 9 months out. And Joe will redeploy before she sees her husband again. Talk about some perspective slapping you in the face!