The winter of the deployment

Wow, I was gone a long time.  We travelled for Christmas, to my mom's vacation home where there is no high-speed internet.  Come on now, let's make the dial-up noise together. kuuuuuuuch, beee-ooop, beee-oop....    It's good to be home.

December was a dark month, both literally and emotionally.  It is darker and colder here than in Texas. I was struggling just to hold on and make it to bedtime each day.  I would say a prayer every night that the next day would (surely!) be better, only to be just as beat down the next night and utter the same prayer.

Enter the New Year.

Why does January 2011 seem so very much closer to June 2011?  It is no different from going from November to December.  Why was I positively gleeful when I ripped (literally) the 2010 calendar from the wall and tossed it in the trash with the poopy diapers (which is where it belongs, IMO)?

For some (stupid) reason, a corner has been turned in my mind.  My husband leaves FOB Middleofnowhere to come home for EML in less than 2 weeks.  (Naturally, I don't know exactly which day, but then I could make plans. And where is the fun in that?) I thought EML was 14 days, but I guess it is 15. That extra 24 hours feels huge! We also know that he will have to come home a few weeks (not much, but hey...) early this summer to make the start of the school he'll be attending.  Yay!

MY HUSBAND COMES HOME THIS YEAR!!!!

I know my military spouse brethren understand how much better that sounds than "next year", even though it is just an artificial construct of time.  It is a huge psychological hurdle. And we're over it. Next up- EML (or R&R, whichever you prefer). 

Everyday is still long and exhausting, but I have things to look forward to in the short term that boost my morale. R&R.  Finding a place for us here in VA. Not planning on how to drag me and my peeps (and our stuff) over to KS.

I know many of my friends are facing this new year as I faced the last one- with that pit in my stomach over the looming deployment.  I wish I could hug every single one of you (and pour some wine).  I can't wait til this is over for all of us.