Chris deployment journal – May 08

3 May 08-Chris, from as far as I can tell, has been having a good time at his training. It seems like they are going through so much and I have a new found respect for him and what he’s having to go through. I will definitely say that it was nowhere near as hard for me to go do what I did. There was no training involved except for the training we did here on the base. His training, however, looks like so much fun. I have made him a deployment photo album and posted a ton of pictures that he e-mailed home to me.

4 May 08-Chris leaves Ft. McCoy tomorrow to go to another base close by where he is now to do some serious field training. They will be living in tents and it will really feel like he’s deployed then. He will be so happy if he’s got some mail waiting for him when he returns. I know first hand how frustrating it is to feel settled, have to pack your stuff and move again, only to pack one more time to come back to where you’ve been. Please think of him while he’s out playing wargames in the field.

7 May 08-Sorry I haven’t been posting much info. I cannot tell you about the training that he is currently going through but it’s brutal for sure. He’s been pretty wiped out most days. As for here, life goes on. I’ve been busy working and taking care of the kids and doing my daily errands/chores. It’s surely a busier life for me these days but thankfully I’m handling it well. It will be a busy weekend for us. I’m taking the kids to the fair at Harmony’s school on Friday and then Saturday, they are honoring military families at the base park. There will be food, crafts, bounce houses, petting zoo, etc. It should be a fun day out for the kids. We’ve found our routine well and I’m so thankful things are not as hard as I thought they may be.

18 May 08-Chris is finally back at the base and doing his normal training if you want to call it that. He was supposed to have the day off today but they had some more slots for medical training so he is going to learn life saving and he will be able to do IVs after his training for the next 4 days. They had some days of nice weather and last night it was cold and raining again. He’s got 2 weeks left of his training and he shared a nice surprise with me. It looks like he’s coming home after his training for a week and a half. We’re still waiting on confirmation but we’re not telling the kids. We’re going to just surprise them. I’m going to tell them I’m picking a friend up from the airport! It is going to be so fun for them!

22 May 08-Sorry for the delay in posting about Chris’ training.  Thankfully he is almost home and he is counting the days.  However, we do have some bad news.  He will not be returning as he was previously told.  He has more training to do closer to where he’ll be in Iraq so he goes straight from Wisconsin to there.    I am so thankful that we did not tell the kids.  Chris has been doing some medical training and can now give IVs.  He asked if he could practice on me to which I replied, “Hell no!”  LOL  I’d love to help my man out but I don’t even like them when they’re necessary!  He is doing well though and I am so proud of him!