Closer...

We recently "SRP"ed for our unit going overseas. During SRP we had to do numerous things to prepare for our trip. Among those things was getting shots to keep us current in our immunizations. The good news is that if you can prove that you already had the shot, you don't have to get it again - the bad news is that the military system for tracking past innoculations is pretty crappy and you usually have to get shot again for the same thing.
This time, I managed to get a new shot that I've never had before and it sounds pretty nasty. It was the smallpox vaccination. They give you a bunch of speeches and information on how you can spread this to other parts of your body and really screw yourself up. Nice that they give this to you so close to when you leave so its one more thing to worry about when you are around you wife and kids in the last weeks before you leave - "will this give them smallpox?"

No matter how much we do to prepare, there is always more to do. Finally, all of our vehicles and trailers are out of the motorpool, but now we have to turn in our old equipment to a different place than we originally turned it in, so we have to un-turn it in to them and re turn it in to this other place. It would be nice to get a couple early days before we leave - but that's just me.

I suppose I'll have to register this blog with the powers that be so I can be monitored to ensure that I'm not violating any OPSEC or federal laws and regulations. I don't expect that to affect what I write much, because what are they going to do? Fire me? Of course, I don't intend to voilate any of the policies regarding information I put out, so it shouldn't be a big deal.

Another day closer and the pressure begins to mount. Every day is one less that I'll have with my family and is one more closer to being gone. I know this is hardest on my wife, who will have to deal with the kids alone while I'm gone. I just hope that the stress of impending separation doesn't interfere too much with enjoying the little time we have left together for awhile. I have a tendancy to downplay stressful situations when others around are showing the sign of stress - its a copng mechanism that I use to keep myself calm and hopefully calm the others down as well, but with her I think it just makes her more edgy because she thinks that its not emotionally impacting me, when of course it is. And everyday it gets harder to maintain the calm that is necessary to function. When I think about the separation, I get knots in my stomache and the butterflys that I associate with performing a solo on stage without practicing your lines - you know you are woefully unprepared, but have no choice to get out there and let t all hang out and hope for the best.


On another note: I had to turn on the word verification because I got two comments to my blog that I'm sure were automated. Its good to know that no one reads this.