Another day in the trenches ...

Greetings all,

Nothing much going on today. Most everyone has a four-day weekend due to Veteran's Day, but I came into the office, just to have something to do. I have been working on Christmas crafts the past three days and am quite excited to pass them along to family and friends, but am no where near being finished.

I also tried to do some reading for class, but the text is difficult. The class is early military history and all the books are translated in Old English (?) format, so it's like half my brain is reading and the other half is trying to decipher. Very exhausting. The next class I think will start in on American military history, so if I can just get through this one, it'll be some sailing.

I got another e-mail from George and he said all is well. It's a little easier knowing that he'll be home on Sunday (God willing), but then he has to go back after the Thanksgiving break. We are really just trying to spend what time we can together, because there will be no holiday breaks next year.

I know it's a little unusual for the holiday breaks, but being a new unit they are fighting with trying to get all of the necessary training in and keeping up moral for the Soldiers and families. I was prepared for the deployment, but no so much all of this pre-deployment separation. Oh, well ... that's the life.

Puppy's finally coming out of the "acting out" part of George's departure, but when he returns he'll revert – just to see how far he can go without getting punished. Testy little bugger! Other than that my days pretty much roll forward in the same pattern.

I did get to spend time with Nikki and Ashley. We went Alexandria for some shopping. There was a lot of baby talk as they are both expecting and we all agree that as long as I'm not pregnant, then the three adults to two babies ratio should work out during the deployment. Sure there's a few hours of free child care each month, but what new mom really wants to hand over her newborn. So I will play "auntie." Not a bad role as I can take them home. Decorating for Ashley's baby room has begun as she is due in four weeks and Nikki has started making decisions, but she has a few more months before her bundle of joy arrives. We are all anxious to see what she is having ... few more weeks.

I also spend time with Jenn and the kids. We talked about our carefree college days and wondered when we got so old (we ask for things like bookshelves and vacuum cleaners for Christmas!) It's exciting to know Brian will be home soon.

Well I guess that's it, my life in a nutshell. I like to keep busy, I think it helps ... although there were numerous times that I wished I didn't have to work. Mainly just so I could work on crafts more and still have time for school. In the end the crafts suffer, but I guess we can't have it all!