Monday

As I type this, Nathan is on a plane heading first to Germany and then on to Afghanistan. He says it will be about a week before they actually get to their final destination. The FOB (forward operating base) they will be at is named Fortress - supposedly because it has really high walls.

I've tried not to think about it too much today. I had one last phone call with him late last night - I was wide awake after sleeping so much over the weekend with the cold/sinus infection I came down with.

It will be awhile before we hear anything from him. I'm hoping that he will be able to get Internet access after he gets settled at the base. I already know that letters take some time to go back and forth.

This is going to be a tough time to get through.

new baby photos

Jennifer and AJ had photos done while he was home. They had to pack so much into the short time he was here. Jennifer was on the go constantly, which was pretty amazing to me for someone who had just had a baby.

Anyway, I scanned the photos and wanted to post them to share with everyone.

This one is my favorite

Catching up

The trip last weekend wore me out. It's taken me several days to feel like myself again. I guess that's part of getting older. **sigh**

Jennifer and I went to the New Baby Products store to pick up something she had ordered. They had a baby scale in the store so Jennifer got Kellyn weighed. She weighed in at 7 lbs, 7 ozs, so she seems to be doing quite well. She's sleeping for 3 to 4 hours at a time now and staying awake for longer periods of time.

I enjoyed seeing Nathan last weekend but it was also sad to think that I won't see him (except for his leave) until after his 23rd birthday. I thought he would have a 12-month tour but it's going to be a 15-month tour (going back to 12-month tours doesn't happen until August 1).

Nathan at Ft. Hood

Nathan got to meet Kellyn for the first time - he was almost afraid to hold her because she's so small.

Saturday night in Temple, Texas

It's Saturday night in Temple, Texas, where we are staying for the weekend. It was the closest place to Killeen we could get where we could use Michael's Marriott points for our room.

As luck would have it, the main road that runs in front of the hotel is completely torn up - you have to use the frontage roads to get around. We completely missed seeing the hotel when we first got here.

It has been hot this weekend but everywhere we've been, they run the AC so cold that I've been freezing.

Nathan told us Friday after we got to the post that there wasn't really anything to do around here. Turns out he was right. There's not much around here. If Ft. Hood wasn't in this area, there really wouldn't be much here. I thought Ft. Carson was big, but Ft. Hood seems to be a lot bigger. They have two PX's and mini-malls and food courts.

I get amused by the names of some of the streets in Ft. Hood. The street where all of the motor pools are located is Hell on Wheels Avenue. There was another I thought was funny but my memory is failing me at the moment!

We get to spend part of the day with Nathan tomorrow. Have to get on the road by 2:00 to get back to the Waco airport and turn in the rental car and get our bags checked. It's a very small airport so I don't think it will be as big an issue to get through security as it was in Atlanta.

It's been nice to visit with him this weekend. Just felt it was something I needed to do before he's deployed. His unit starts leaving on June 27 and they will all be out by July 1.

June 10

Today was supposed to be the day that AJ got on a plane to go back to Iraq. He reported to the USO at 1:00 as ordered. Apparently they sat around for some time, went to the gate, and then found out there were mechanical problems with the plane. The flight time got changed to 11:00 this evening. After sitting around a few more hours, the flight was canceled completely. He and Jennifer came back to the house a short time ago. He has to report tomorrow morning at 11:00 am.

This coming Friday, June 13, Michael, Jennifer and I are flying to Texas to visit with Nathan for the weekend. His unit is being deployed sometime between the 20th and 30th of this month to Afghanistan for one year.

It feels so strange to know that both of them are going to be away at the same time. I'm going to miss them so much.

Thursday

Stayed home today. Something I ate for dinner last night must have disagreed with me because I felt sick all night and most of today - didn't sleep much last night. I stayed home and felt puny and rested my knee.

Things at work weren't too hectic so I guess it was an OK day to be out. Of course, it's frustrating to be at home when I'm sick because I end up noticing all the stuff that needs to be done and that I don't feel well enough to do. Oh well!

Getting older

Went to the doctor this morning to get a refill on a prescription and mentioned to him that my right leg had been bothering me. He checked my knee, discovered it was swollen, and decided that I have bursitis in my knee.

Getting older is SO much "fun" - one more thing to deal with.

Flickr.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/moon_photos/

...sigh...

Not having a good day in a lot of ways...