That one dreadful word..

I think every military spouse knows what I'm talking about when I say we all dread hearing this word come out of our partners mouth. The word is of course,

DEPLOYMENT

Man came home from work Monday with news that he could possibly be getting deployed in a very short amount of time. I wanted to know when they would know for sure, and how long. Only 2 months was the response, with possibility of extending. He also may have to go back in April for his regularly scheduled deployment of 6 months which does not sound okay to me but hey, I don't really get a say in the whole situation.

Well a few days later he finally got confirmation that he is, for sure, for sure, for sure, getting deployed :( and soon. I can't post when or where exactly he's going, but I was NOT happy with the short notice. Especially since they needed him to work long hours to get all the training up to date, all the jets ready and processing complete. I mean come on, but that's the military. At least I didn't have to wait and never know for sure if he was to go or not and on the day they're supposed to go, if the jet shows up, they go, and if not, they stay. (there was a possibility of that happening) So the control freak in me is at least a little satisfied that I get so say my goodbye's, make arrangements and spend a little time with my man.

So remember how in my last post I mentioned my parents are coming to visit? Well this visit was definitely a blessing and orchestrated by Heavenly Father because I will only have to be alone for a few days and then my parents fly in for a week. At this point, my mom is going to miss her return flight and drive back to Utah with me. I'm pretty excited to spend some quality time with family and friends in Utah, especially being able to spend the Holidays with them. But I'm really going to miss my man. (I know, I know, what wife doesn't, right??) To all you military wives and spouses out there, I am grateful for your example and strength and the knowledge that I am not alone in this crappy situation. I am, of course, very proud of my husband and grateful he will not be in harms way. The lucky punk gets to go to an island and explore caves and go to the beach every day. But I'm glad he has the chance to go and have this experience. Even if its an experience that doesn't include me.

(honestly, I had a hard time with that. knowing he is going to experience this amazing new place and make new memories that didn't include me really made me sad. But I'll get to be with family and that's just as good in my opinion :))

So that's what's going on here. Hope all of you are doing well out there and can give me any advice on how to handle deployment, especially the calling situation. The little time we've had to look up international plans or pay-as-you-go, or prepaid phones are crazy expensive. Is there a secret I'm missing? Because right now we're just planning on talking through Skype. Which is great, but if there are other options, I'd love to know about them! Thanks!