Careful What You Wish For

I guess I should have been more careful when I was wishing yesterday.

We got word today. My husband is deploying to Iraq. And he's leaving for training in two days.

Two days.

The good news is that they are splitting the training up differently than we expected. So he'll be leaving for a week early Saturday and returning back here next Saturday. But when he leaves again in mid-June, he'll be gone for about eight months.

I'm still in that weird in-between place where I know he's going, and I know when, and I've told the kids and my best friend, but it still doesn't seem real.

At times like this I can't help but think about my friends who are Army wives. I can never get too down because they have it so much harder than me. I have one particular friend whose husband is on his third year-long tour in Iraq. And his tour was recently stretched to fifteen months. They have been trying desperately to have a baby and she has been struggling with serious health issues. His unit lost four soldiers recently and my friend holds the volunteer position that we in the Air Force call key spouse. She has been holding the widows' hands and attending funerals and memorial services all over the country.

And still my friend finds the time to write me and ask how I am doing.

As we get ready in just two days time to embark on this journey of deployment yet again, I will keep my friend in my thoughts always. She will be my rock and my inspiration.

In the meantime, I'm keeping my sense of humor. Mid-June is still far away. We'll have many adventures and mishaps between now and then.