Just a few more hours...

...to spend with my husband. He's just grabbing his uniform out of the laundry and getting ready to put his bags in the car for bag drop-off. So to keep myself distracted I decided to write a little and explain some of what's going on. Mind you, this is just what I understand of the situation and of technical terms. If I get something a little wrong, you'll have to give me a little grace.

Matt has bag drop-off at 1800. After that, he has off until 2100, during which time we are going to come back home and make some pancakes for dinner. At 2100 he is going to be locked in the gym for the final manifest check. After that, they go to a nearby Air Force Base and wait for their plane. For all they know, it could be a couple of hours or a couple of days. From there they take a commercial airliner (yay!) to Kuwait where they train for an unknown amount of time (days? weeks?) and then head to Iraq. I don't know if they fly, drive or skip their way there, so don't ask.

Once in Iraq he expects to sit around for a while until he gets attached to his specific company. After that, he's hoping to get a platoon of men (35-45 guys in this case) that he can command. He's not sure, but he doesn't expect to be going on raids, he will more likely be doing check-points and cordons (something quasi like a raid but nobody can tell me the real difference).

I, on the other hand, am applying for a framing job at the arts and crafts center in case this Corps of Engineers thing falls though (email correspondence makes it look very positive though). I'm spending tonight at Veronica's place so I don't have to spend my first night alone...alone. I think we've planned to have hot chocolate, cheesecake and a movie. At home I have stocked TV dinners and checked out chick flicks from the library so I'll be set for the next few days. Oh, and we're also looking into asking our landlord if we can get a puppy. I'm really hoping the answer is yes, because then there would be something else in the house that makes noise, but I'm not hopeful.

The house is mostly put together now, other than a few bits here and there. The Troxels are coming on the 29th so I had to clean out the guest room, and I've set up a really cute temporary area for their two kids upstairs. If I still like it in a few days I'll take some pictures.

Other than that, things are pretty quiet. I've been getting emails and messages from people who love me encouraging me, and it really does make me feel loved and like I'm not alone. These next few days will be hard, so I certainly welcome emails or phone calls, but can't promise to write back with any expediency. Oh, and if you have gmail, google talk (just a quick download) works much better than skype. If I'm online, you'll be able to call me.