Packing

Josh is in the process of preparing to leave on TDY (temporary duty for my non-military folks). I won't say where he's headed until he returns, but I think it will be a bit of a nice break for him to get out of the "usual" routine (despite the fact that I will miss him). I will miss him, but he is only scheduled to be gone three weeks. Three weeks is really nothing, and I'm frankly just thankful that it is three weeks and not three months, six months, a year, 18 months... Three weeks is nothing to complain about.

When Josh is packing for a trip like this, he has multiple large bags he fills. I call them "military issue" bags, and they are literally the biggest bags I have ever seen in my life. Any military wife could understand the sinking feeling you get when you see those bags come out... When Josh and I were first dating he had been staying at my house for a few weeks, and he was leaving in the morning to go Korea. His clothes and belongings had been strung around the floor of my room for the past few weeks. That evening after our "farewell" dinner, he brought out his military bags and started to fill them with his stuff. It was the first time it really hit me that he was going to leave, yet again. And I cried. Oh how I cried... inconsolably, and endlessly it seemed. Not one of my finer moments, and definitely not a shining "supportive" moment either. However, I've gotten used to see the big bags come out and watch them get filled with months worth of clothing and supplies. Tears aren't really an issue anymore.

Tonight Josh's packing has actually turned out to be a bit more amusing than usual.... Any thought of tears quickly turned into laughter.

 The cats can't quite seem to figure out what these bags are... or what all the smells are. But the bag seems to make a great toy.