This morning I awoke with a feeling that I have not experienced in many months. A feeling of hope and excitement about the future. A feeling like things will get better. A feeling like I will be able to enjoy the sunshine, beautiful days, shopping for baby items, and preparing to meet my daughter.
I am not sure when the grey cloud descended on me but I know being apart from Joe, being in command, school, Jenavieve's death, and then trying to figure out how I would balance being a geographically single mother while still in the Army Reserves all played a part. I've known for a while that the cloud was there but did not want to talk about it or admit that I was very stressed and probably depressed. Instead, I trudged through each day without looking forward to the next.
The changing point came in March when the offer Joe and I put on a house here was not accepted and then later that week I was in the hospital very briefly for something related to the pregnancy. It was then that I decided to make some changes in my life that would remove a lot of the stress. Joe and I gave up the house search in CA and decided that I should move back to MN to live with my parents this summer. I will have a lot of family and some friends there to help me with the transition to being a mom while Joe finishes up his next year in Korea. I will also be giving up command in CA as a result, which takes another huge load off of me. I really like my unit and my Soldiers and it is hard to leave them, but I am also looking forward to not having to worry about not doing enough for them. Finally, I will be putting in my paperwork to transfer to the Individual Ready Reserve (IRR). That way, while Joe is in Korea our daughter and I have a lot more freedom and flexibility to go see him more frequently and for longer stretches of time. I am not sure the dates of when I will give up command and when I will be allowed to transfer to the IRR, but hopefully it will be sometime this summer or early fall at the latest. Things are finally looking up.
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Back In Korea
Yesterday, after 96 or so days apart, Joe and I were finally reunited back in South Korea. Though three months is one of the shorter times apart we have had since we started dating, being apart is never easy no matter how short the amount of time. It was so nice to see him again when I exited the baggage claim area at the airport. My plane was delayed 40 min leaving San Francisco due to high winds, so I worried that he would get to the airport extra early and then have to wait even longer. He said he didn't have to wait too long, which I hope is true.
Our taxi driver on the way back to Camp Hovey was an extremely fast driver. He also utilized the technique of merging into the left turn lane at a red light and then cutting back in front of the line of cars going straight so that we would be the first car past to pass the red light. There were quite a few times where my whole body was tensed up as he drove, though he did cut the drive time down by an hour or so.
Once we arrived back at the apartment I tried to stay awake as long as I possibly could. Joe had to leave to do a barracks check at 11 pm to make sure that all of his Soldiers were in their rooms, so I tried to stay away until then. We watched TV together while waiting for the barracks check time to arrive and I quickly succumbed to the effects of travel and resulting sleep deprivation by resting my head on his chest and falling asleep.
The next morning was full of my usual first day back in Korea routine which consists of cleaning out the food that is no longer good, re-enrolling myself in DBIDS so that I can buy groceries and also go on and off post, going grocery shopping, and running other errands. After clearing all of the no longer edible food out of the refrigerator and freezer all that was left in the fridge was a jar of mayo, some diet coke, and a V8. Usually on day two or three I tackle organizing the apartment to make it look presentable. I can't really blame Joe for it not looking very organized since he just got back from gunnery. The main thing I have to do to make the place look presentable is organizing and putting away his TA-50.
It is so nice to be back with Joe. This week is recovery from gunnery and next week is planning and prepping for the next two-week field exercise his unit has coming up, so he has to work long days while I am here. We are hoping that he at least gets the weekend off of work. Neither of us want to go anywhere and instead we would love to have a lazy weekend of sleeping in, watching tv together, and relaxing.
Uh-oh. I think the fact that is is midnight Pacific Time even though it is only 4pm in Korea is catching up with me. I may have to take a nap soon.
Our taxi driver on the way back to Camp Hovey was an extremely fast driver. He also utilized the technique of merging into the left turn lane at a red light and then cutting back in front of the line of cars going straight so that we would be the first car past to pass the red light. There were quite a few times where my whole body was tensed up as he drove, though he did cut the drive time down by an hour or so.
Once we arrived back at the apartment I tried to stay awake as long as I possibly could. Joe had to leave to do a barracks check at 11 pm to make sure that all of his Soldiers were in their rooms, so I tried to stay away until then. We watched TV together while waiting for the barracks check time to arrive and I quickly succumbed to the effects of travel and resulting sleep deprivation by resting my head on his chest and falling asleep.
The next morning was full of my usual first day back in Korea routine which consists of cleaning out the food that is no longer good, re-enrolling myself in DBIDS so that I can buy groceries and also go on and off post, going grocery shopping, and running other errands. After clearing all of the no longer edible food out of the refrigerator and freezer all that was left in the fridge was a jar of mayo, some diet coke, and a V8. Usually on day two or three I tackle organizing the apartment to make it look presentable. I can't really blame Joe for it not looking very organized since he just got back from gunnery. The main thing I have to do to make the place look presentable is organizing and putting away his TA-50.
It is so nice to be back with Joe. This week is recovery from gunnery and next week is planning and prepping for the next two-week field exercise his unit has coming up, so he has to work long days while I am here. We are hoping that he at least gets the weekend off of work. Neither of us want to go anywhere and instead we would love to have a lazy weekend of sleeping in, watching tv together, and relaxing.
Uh-oh. I think the fact that is is midnight Pacific Time even though it is only 4pm in Korea is catching up with me. I may have to take a nap soon.
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