Today marks day 14 of this deployment.

So far, emotionally I have handled it better than I ever thought I would. I cried when I said goodbye…when I watched my children say goodbye…and then I sucked it up and kept on going.

I spent my first night surrounded by my closest of friends, staying up talking & laughing until we literally couldn’t keep our eyes open anymore. After two days it was time to fly to Missouri. (I won’t even get into the Hell of flying with two children alone. Obviously we made it safely, but it’s not something I’m looking forward to doing often).

I think being with family has made it easier on all of us. The first month or so of the deployment will be spent away from Hawaii, spending the holidays back home with both of our families. I think in Kincaid’s mind Daddy is still at home and he doesn’t understand what is going on yet. I’m nervous to go back and be on my own, but I’m also anxious to get back to my own home, belongings, and living my “normal” day-to-day life.

I think the most frustrating thing I’ve had to accept about this deployment is that it isn’t what we expected it to be. We thought we would have the ability to talk often, but boy were we wrong. Michael ended up somewhere other than with his original unit (who have a lot of amenities), So It was a harsh reality to realize that our dreams of using Facebook, Skype, and so on to keep in touch weren’t going to be possible. Photo sharing, instant messaging, reliable, un-timed phone calls are a thing of the past. I’m jealous of those who have those options and very sympathetic to those who may have even less options than I even have!

Here’s hoping in change for the better and early returns for all of our soldiers…

14 days down
? to go

Semper Fidelis