Up with the times

So we've done it. We've finally created our own blog. The world should be proud!

I'm sitting at home this morning, relishing in the fact that I'm not at work...but wishing that I wasn't sick so not being at work would be a little more fun. Oh well. I've decided to have as much fun as a sinus cold and a sore throat would allow, so here I am...finally "coming up with the times" and creating a blog. I love visiting the many blogs that my friends and family members have posted over the last couple of years, so why not create my own?

I also hope this will be a good way for both David and I to keep family and friends updated while he's in Iraq and I'm re-adjusting to the "single" life in San Angelo.

Speaking of - here's the latest news that we have on David's deployment status and training schedule.

David will be attending more training this summer than we originally anticipated. That's a good and a bad thing - more training means he will be better prepared for his duties in Iraq, but it also means he will be spending more time away from home.

His first month of training begins on June 4. He will be training at Fort Something-or-Other in Louisiana till July 3rd. Then, he'll be able to come home for 3 weeks before his second training begins at the end of July and carries him till the end of August. He will then begin his "1 year deployment" with another 45 days of training, a week at home, and will then be shipped overseas to Iraq. That places his return date around the beginning of September in 2009.

I'm learning the hard way that being a military wife requires flexibility. Just a month ago we were expecting his official 1 year deployment to begin in July of this year, allowing him to be home in July 2009. The extra training and deployment delay not only required us to reschedule vacation plans for this summer, but has made us rethink a lot of the plans we made for our lives "after Iraq". We have tentative plans A-D, and I'm preparing myself for the possibility of having to acquire plans E, F, and G before the year is out. Preparing for David's deployment has definitely been a growing experience emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and temporally.