There has to be a way around this.

It really surprises me, although it probably shouldn't, how "on hold" my life feels right now. It's as if my whole world revolves around Chad's deployment and training schedule. My calendar, which normally includes only my varying work schedule, now has things like "Chad home", "Chad in field", "Chad leaves for NJ" written all over it. But I'm acutely aware, having dealt with the army for over five years now, that although Corinne's calendar states that on September 9th Chad will be available for moving all of the crap out of his office so I don't have to look at it for the next year while he's away, the army might swoop in and decide that he will be picking his commander's nose instead . The army needs to get its finger out of my appointment book BECAUSE IT'S MAKING ME CRABBY. Due to this uncertainty I feel that I can't make any sort of plans. Can I go to Walgreens today? I don't know, what does the army say? Should I eat a chicken salad for lunch? (If I actually knew how to make chicken salad but that's not the point.) Consult the calendar -there might be a conflict with what the army wants! Friends will say, "Hey, let's go out! What's a good date for you?" and I can't really answer because WHAT IF THE ARMY SAYS IT'S NOT A GOOD NIGHT FOR HANGING WITH THE GIRLS?! It's like I'm paralyzed until The Big Deployment Date. I've worked everything around it - my surgery, my work schedule, my sleep schedule. I'm irritated that I've let the army worm its way into every piece of me but I think that's just how it goes. Isn't it? This is my first deployment as an army wife so I had no idea how often my moods would swing from proud to annoyed to angry. There's gotta be a way to get my own life back! I'm hoping that once he leaves that this will die down but we'll see.

So in honor of The Deployment and my screwed-up schedule here are a few photos of Chad's last trip to a war zone.

And one of Heiko from his glory days since we are still missing him so much.