Another mile marker

I am so ready for winter to be over and done with. It's cold and wet here... it's been like this the past couple days and tomorrow I think we're looking at highs in the 30's! Burrrrrrrr. It's not that I hate cold weather, I just like it in moderation. This southern girl can only take so much of it! Last night after I got home from doing laundry my apartment was freeeeeeezing. I think I walked around in sweats, a thermal, a pullover sweater and a scarf for about two hours. Sgt. got back in today and said Iraq is cold and raining today as well. It's the kind of weather that makes you both just want to crawl in bed and take a nap... preferably together.

Other than the weather things have been going good! I talked to my friend Re and we're planning a trip to see each other in May!! I'm very excited. I miss her tons, she's been such a source of strength through this deployment. Her being a military girlfriend herself, she does a great job of just understanding. We also just keep each other sane :). It's not all about the "bad days" or the day where missing him so much is challenging.... thats actually a small fraction of the whole "coping with a deployment" process for us. We get to gush about all the sweet things our guys come up with, we talk about care package ideas and make fun of stores like "Sgt. called today, was standing outside the PX on the FOB and all of a sudden I hear 'you can do it put your back into it' blasting on the speakers lol.... sometimes I wonder if he's really deployed' *not!*" :). Our friendship goes beyond just how proud we are of our men as well. It's great to be a sounding board for each other and a support for everything in our lives! Anyway, point is, I'm excited to finally be able to make a trip up to see her this year! It'll also be a nice break in the months that still total the time till Sgt. is (hopefully, unless the Army changes it's mind... which it tends to do) taking leave.

Last Sunday Sgt. and I got to talk via telephone and web cam at the same time!! It's the first time since he left that I've been able to see him on web cam so that was a treat in and of itself, but on top of that getting to talk to him and see him in real time at the SAME time.... just made my week :). Something about those phone calls (especially this one since it involved seeing him) just makes him feel closer.... even if it's only for the duration of the call. Aside from actually getting to see my guy, getting to see him smile at me.... I'll be a little bit "material" right now and say WOW! He is looking goooooooddddd. I really am the luckiest girl in the world. On top of just being an amazing man (and I could go into detail but I'll spare you the mushiness of it all for now) he's so handsome and down right sexy. He looks just like he did when he left but you can tell he's been working out a lot (or carrying an 80 lb ruck for 12 hours a day... whatever). I can't wait to be wrapped up in those arms again!

And speaking of "can't wait" we've crossed over yet ANOTHER mile marker! I don't know if I'm the only girlfriend that does this... I highly doubt it, but I have various "markers" for this deployment (and separation in it's entirety... since there was the whole stationed elsewhere before deployment thing). There's the "we're 1/3 done, we're 1/2 way done, we're 3/4 done!" there's the "we're now closer to the next time we'll see each other than we are to the last time we saw each other" there's the ever so sought after "we're down to double digit days!" and various other little date factors which seem to be small goals if you will to make this time pass quickly. The latest marker we've passed is the "under 200 days!" marker! For those of you unfamiliar with a deployment... under 200 days means a lot to me. It's the last "day" marker until double digit days... for 1. But more than that it's just a mark of how far we've come.... when this all started I believe it was something between 525-550 days... now we're under 200! Progress is progress no matter how you wana look at it :).

In my world back here, things are good, nothing out of the ordinary... just working and living life :). I did my taxes already so I'm glad I got that out of the way. I'm afraid that soon I may have to have my car operated on. "Worked on" seems like much too simple of a term. The poor thing lulls every time you push the gas from a start to a stop... my check engine light is on... and if you let it idle for too long it'll die. Any one have a clue what that sounds like? Someone said something about getting my fuel filter changed.... maybe I'll look into doing that first. When they first mentioned it I kind of starred at them... I thought for a second they were using one of those "check the blinker fluid" jokes. I'm an intelligent woman but when it comes to my car.... I don't know the first clue. I'll have to appear more confident when I walk into whatever mechanic shop though.

I suppose that's all the exciting news to update right now. Sgt is doing good. Every time I talk to him his morale seems high and he constantly tells me how much he really loves his job. As much as he would love to be home.... I know that he's glad that if nothing else, if he has to be away from his family, it's to serve his country. Please keep him and all of the soldiers he works with in your prayers.