The Final Month

Hi, I’m back after a week and a half hiatus of getting our new apartment in order. I’ve got all my furniture moved in and there are only little things left to do. I’ll post pictures when I’m totally done, I promise. So far, I am extremely proud and excited that I actually live here (in this apartment, not this town), and that I will have a husband to share it with in less than a month.

So, I received an email from Shane’s battalion a few days ago informing me that the window of time his unit will return to Fort Hood is between January 15-19. So, no more than a month to go. There are plenty of rumors flying around about what day they leave Kandahar and when they will return to Hood, but I’m just going by the 19th for now.

I figure time will go by fast until January actually hits. I am going home to Jersey on Friday, after debating whether or not I should go or stay for Christmas. The flight was insanely pricey, but I really need a dose of Mom and Dad. After awhile, I become numb to the fact that I live far away from all of my family, but every now and then the homesick feeling comes along and it hurts like a bitch. I had one of those moments and decided I needed to be home for Christmas. I’m okay about missing Thanksgiving, but the holiday time always makes me want to be home. And if I can’t have Shane, at least I can have our home state.

I guess I should acknowledge the fact that I turned 24 today. I celebrated over dinner with friends last night, so today has felt like an ordinary day. I went shopping, I ran errands, and I started putting up curtains in the living room. Pretty thrilling, I know. My day did begin with a Skype session with Shane though, after not being able to video chat with him in roughly 2 months since his computer crashed. So, that was a lovely start to my day. It obviously hasn’t been the happiest of birthdays, but I’m grateful to my friends and family for all of the extra support.

Because I can’t say the tentative date Shane leaves Afghanistan, I will say that it is more or less 25 days away. 25! I feel like I was just writing the post about it being 100! So, 3 weeks and change until my heart and mind can finally chill out. Woohoo!