02 January 2010

Happy New Year and I made it y'all!!!

So, 1,200 miles, 8 Diet Cokes and and 10 radio stations later... I am in our house at Fort X. I finally have cable and internet (woot!) and our household goods arrive on Monday (double woot!!). Color me relieved.

I've met our next-door neighbor, she's super friendly and was very welcoming. She even gave me the low-down about the hellions that cross the bridge behind our yard from the middle school on their way home. Apparently it got so bad in the past that they now station MP's outside our backyard fence to keep the urchins in line. Good to know, right? I've already made like 14 trips to the commissary and/or PX and need to go again once I finish up this post. Restarting a house is expensive y'all.

Some interesting things have happened since I last wrote... I had received a call from the Rear D just before I left telling me Swiss would be home on the 31st of December. Swiss then told me that, no, it would be late January... and the date has since been pushed back even further... past the year mark.I'm sad and frustrated by it all, but have since resigned myself to the fact. There isn't much I can do, is there? The worst part of it all was when I had to go to the PX and had to drive past the headquarters on the 31st. I saw all of the families anxiously waiting on the bleachers, flags flying, anticipation and excitement thick in the air. On my way home I saw all the guys (and gals) embraced by their loved ones, I watched the homecoming we should have had and, naturally, I started bawling in the truck knowing that it could have been Swiss and I out there. It could have been us hugging, breathing sighs of relief, spending New Year's Eve in reunited bliss. Instead I went home and went to bed early on the air mattress alone. Sigh. But enough of that...

Our new home is nice, spacious and pretty good for military housing circa 1970-ish. We have an awesome balcony-deck thing upstairs and the views are pretty great. The sunrises here are spectacular (I have Fletcher to thank for seeing those) and I very much appreciate being able to wear flip-flops in December. It still feels weird being here without him... but soon that will change. I'm looking forward to doing stuff with the FRG and I've started the Couch to 5K program because Swiss has decided we are doing a run together for Valentine's Day (I think that's romance Infantry style, no?). So, all in all, things are good if not a bit boring- thankfully all of that will change on Monday when I will have 9,000 lbs of stuff to find a home for!

The worst parts about Fort X? The gargantuan cockroach that I discovered living in my kitchen light fixture. I baked it to death overnight. But for reals folks. They don't make bugs that big in the upper midwest. G.R.O.S.S. Also, catching glimpses of guys in ACU's that look like Swiss. Talk about heart twangs. But I suppose we are in the pseudo-homestretch.

In any event... I'm looking forward to reuniting with my bed and the couch! It is good to be back internet friends... I wish you all a very excellent 2010!

4 comments:

liberal army wife said...

Oh yeah, the bugs down there... could be leashed and registered as pets!

I'm so sorry about the change in schedule. sucks massively and awfully.

LAW

EngineerChica said...

I hope time goes quickly until you are reunited. I can only imagine what seeing those reunions is like. I tear up seeing pictures and I haven't even been through a deployment, yet.

Glad your housing is okay. I'm setting up my first "permanent-as-in-longer-than-3-months" apartment and am having fun picking things out but struggling to not spend a gazillion dollars!

Happy New Year!

Meghan said...

So glad you made it safely Tucker! And that your stuff is arriving soon. Hope setting up the house will keep you nice and busy until Swiss comes home (SOON!). Savor every minute of that organizing :)

Bette said...

In Georgia they called those monsters palmetto bugs. And I was all, That's a damn roach, people. Sorry to hear Fort X has them too.

Even sorrier that you're seeing others' homecomings while yours has been pushed off. I've been there, and it's an icky feeling -- you want to be happy for everyone else, but you want your own sweetie home rightthisminute, too. Hugs to you, hon.