Day 1

Yeah it's been awhile. Days march on, blah, blah, blah. Fast forward through 4 months - I've got a job, Nathan's in second grade, and Eric left yesterday for Iraq.

I've discovered that this is just a different deployment than the first one. Eric went in in OIF 1 back in 1993 with the 101st to invade. Now he's in there in OIF 7 with the 3rd ID as the 'closers.' Last time WE ALL thought there WMDs and that we'd be out in 6 months, tops. Nathan was 18 months old and didn't have an inkling that daddy was gone, and I didn't have any kind of routine that was factored in by Nathan's naps. Eric's protective gear wasn't much more than what a football player wears, and he would drive around Mosul with just another guy in a jeep and no weapons.

Now, thanks to Congress enacting every complaint ever voiced, he's got enough weight to cripple a horse that he's got to wear. You have to be certified to wear the body armour. He's got to get in a faux vehicle in full battle-rattle to get spun upside down to similate a rollover into water, and practice cutting his harness straps. Hello? How much of Iraq is underwater?

Okay, rant over. Protections are better, but there is something to be said about going too far the other way.

Anywhoo. Yesterday was just interminable. Everyone was supposed to report at midnight. That's fine for the adults - harder on the kids. All day that mighnight deadline was hanging over our heads. Nathan was NOT happy about being woken up.

It didn't help that it was literally 89% humidity and 86 degrees at midnight. I'm not sure if we set a heat record, but if not, it was close. Eric was sweating like a racehorse.

There were a lot of people there, congregating in the parking lot. Lots of people were hanging around their cars, sitting on their tailgates. Portable lights. We managed to get Nathan out of the car for about 5 minutes. We could have stayed to hang out with Eric for another hour or two, but we decided it was best to just stay as long as Nathan could deal. He started crying and not wanting people to see it, so he and I left. I'm sure Eric was probably relieved to see us go so he could focus on getting him and his group ready to go.

Once we got home, Nathan decided he'd rather sleep on the couch than in a bed. He pulled the blanket over his head and just cried. That just killed me, to hear his little sniffles. It probably took me another 2 hours to fall asleep.

Was awakened this morning by Eric's brief call that he was just getting on the plane in Savannah. Nathan told me that he had been up since 5:30. I hope we both sleep in tomorrow

He seems to be taking it all in stride. We went to lunch at McDonalds - and they've started their yearly Monoply contest. We got Park Place. If we find Boardwalk, we could win $1 million. Nathan said, "if we win a million dollars, we could call Eric's boss and have him send him home from Iraq, couldn't we?"

We drove into Savannah for some retail therapy. I dragged Nathan to Hancock Fabrics, but didn't buy anything. Then we hit Barnes & Noble - he gets 2 books and I buy a book that I hope will give me some ideas for our bear scouts meeting, but again - nothing that I wanted. Then the final coupe de grace at Toys R Us. Yet another Star Wars lego thingy.

Got home - went out to Subway for his usual pig sandwich, then Eric called almost the minute we walked in the door. Calling from a payphone in Germany. Sounded tired from being in a plane for 12 hours. Probably another 6-10 before he's 'settled' where ever he's gonna be for the next 2 weeks or so.

Nathan decided to make me a sign for the sliding doors out to the back patio "Water the plants outside 2 to 3 times a week." (I don't water the ferns outside - Eric does. It's been a running joke that they'll be dead from lack of attention while Eric is gone.) Nathan's looking out for his daddy!