One month left

This is it. This is the final stretch. The 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team is expected home mid-April. I did not start a countdown and do not plan to start one because I think that would make the days longer. I want to go through each day and then, "Boom!" we're there.

Everything is winding down over there. The guys have started packing their belongings, and they are moving to tents soon to prepare for the next wave of soldiers. Though no one wants to move, I think in a way they are glad because that is an indication that they are coming home soon.

Every now and then, it hits me that it's been a year, and I'm amazed. When he left, I thought to myself, "A year is nothing." I truly believe that. Anyone can do anything for a year. It's no big deal. But I still tell myself, "A year is nothing," except it is no longer a year. It is a month. I think that actually keeps my anticipation down, so I am not driven crazy by the fact that it's soon. I prefer that so I don't have to freak out every day, "He's coming home soon, he's coming home soon, he's coming home soon!"

I don't anticipate that our adjustment period will be too difficult. Adam doesn't seem to have changed much. I think I'm fairly the same. We're pretty independent, so it's not as though our other half has been missing for a year -- we're two full pieces that have been apart, and it will be great to put them next to each other again. :)

Light at the end of the tunnel

Adam is frustrated. Deployment is getting old. Boredom persists when there are no missions. Questionable decisions by superiors are annoying. He is, in one word, tired.

But it is almost over. The "sure-ish" date for flying out is April 12. They are supposed to fly directly from Iraq to Fort Lewis, Wash. Adam said they will be "prisoners" at Fort Lewis, and he is aggravated by that because apparently regular Army people will not be treated that way.

I fear for his mind. He is agitated. He is frustrated. He appears disenchanted. I don't want him to resent something he loves.

He will be gone a good chunk of the summer, squeezing in classes before the fiscal year ends. I am somewhat disappointed but at the same time glad that he will be furthering his career. In a way, it's good that he's doing this right after deployment because I'm already used to him being gone. We will have time, because he doesn't plan to go back to work until June.

Today is the last day to send anything. I plan to send one more letter, then wait for him to come home.