I love to write and I love how I am able to document our many activities and share them with our friends and family. It seems though that Mike's deployment has me in a lull of sorts. Don't get me wrong, I am happy and busy and content with the way my life is at the moment. It's just a piece of our family is missing, and I am not as excited about sharing our activities because it somehow just doesn't feel complete.
I am SO happy that we are half-way done with this deployment. BUT, guess what? We still have half-way to go. That part sucks. Most deployments in the Air Force are in the 4-6 month range and we are just now at the top of the hill. I get moments where I feel tired, frustrated, annoyed...but the thing that gets me the most is the worry. Gosh, I hate that part. I can handle Mike being gone for a year, we've done it plenty of times while dating. However, this is different because of where he is. To get me through this, I simply just ignore the fact that my husband is in a war zone. Really, how else can you get through it?!? If I constantly dwell and think about the fact that Mike is so far away, flying in the same cockpit with people that we are skeptical about, over hostile territory, I would not able to go through my day.
What I found that is simply amazing through this deployment so far is the outpouring of love and compassion from people. Really it SO nice! We live on a base where people seldom deploy, so Rory and I are kind of on our own, give or take a few families in similar circumstances. But oh my goodness, we have been so blessed with our neighbors and friends here. We are invited over to dinners ALL time, multiple times a week in fact. I have friends that just reach out to me just because, both near and far. It is really heart-warming. I also love how wonderful Mike's friends are. He has many friends from around the Air Force and they pop in at Kirtland for short and sometimes long trainings. It is really nice that these guys check in on us quite frequently and ask if there's anything they can do. Plus, it's nice for Rory to get some male interaction since she's used to just hanging around ladies.
It's weird to think of where I am right now and how well Rory and I are doing. We are so lucky that we get to talk to Mike and see him every day. Rory's innocent little mind probably just thinks that her daddy lives in the phone but she is so happy when he calls and the two of them "play" together every morning. I feel very blessed. And I try to keep in mind that it can always be worse.
One thing that I am SO grateful for was the fact that I got to visit Mike while he was on a TDY to Dubai last month. We had been apart for almost five months at that point and I admit I was starting to feel overwhelmed because we still had such a long way to go. I had no idea how we would be able to pull off a trip like that, because it was so last minute and stressful. I mean picture me waiting in the Dubai airport for over six hours with no sign of Mike. I worried that I travelled ALL that way and that his trip would be cancelled at the last minute. But fortunately, God was with us and He helped to make that reunion oh so sweet. I feel beyond blessed for that opportunity because most people don't get such a chance.
Now we are a month out from Mike's two-week R&R and we have MANY things planned to do as a family. Mike can choose to go anywhere he wants to go in the world, but his simple answer is that he wants to go home. And you know what? I don't blame him. What's better that being in your own house surrounded by your things with your family that you love?
Today is a Saturday, a day that most families love to enjoy and spend together. For us, the weekends are quite boring as we don't have Dada to spend it with. But we have a routine and we are plugging along. The hard part is over...the goodbye, the holidays, the cold winter. Spring is in full bloom now, it is warm outside and we just take it all in. Tonight we are having friends over for dinner, a great excuse for me to cook a fun meal and drink wine with company ; ) It won't replace my husband's absence and it pains me to think that he is in a small cubicle eating the same standard meal or something that can be heated only with hot water. There's nothing I can do about that except to tell him how proud I am of him and how amazing I think he is. And most importantly to be safe and that I love him.
