Day 273: 1/4

Well, here it is. One quarter of the way done with this deployment (if it stays 12 months). Phew! In some ways, this year is going really fast. Being a full-time teacher keeps me plenty busy anyways, but adding the baby into the mix this deployment has meant the evenings and weekends are gone faster than I can process. It is going so fast. Between that and the crazy warm weather, I keep forgetting it is almost December. But this year is a paradox of emotions for me too.

This first year of my sweet baby girl's life is going way too fast. I already want to freeze her and relive all her special firsts. Being so busy and overwhelmed has meant that I spent a lot of those precious days just surviving. Now that I feel better about getting things done and have more time in the evenings, I am getting to relax more and play with her, but she is already almost seven months old. I want every day to stretch out warm and cozy like a sweet Saturday morning. I want to savor every second and do each day twice, well at least the weekends! ; P

And yet, I miss my husband. He is working his tail off in a far away dangerous place. I want each day to race by. I cross them off mentally and say a prayer of thanks for each day he survives. I want nothing more than for this year to be over and he to be home safely in my arms again. Just today, I walked by the stairwell and saw a truck just like his parked outside and I wondered for a second if it was him. Just for a minute I was struck by how much I just miss having him around, knowing he is there.

I hope the time is going quickly for him. I hate knowing how tired and busy and overwhelmed he is. He is working very long days. Sunday was one of his "slow" days, and he was working until 9:30. I really can't imagine sometimes how hard it is for him to be so far from everything and everyone he holds dear. But back to the good news, we're already one quarter of the way done. The next couple of months will race by with the holiday business and semester exams for me and then we'll be just a month away from R&R.

Now, if I could only teach myself the trick to living in the moment and racing to next August. I can't wait until I have my family back together again.