Not halfway

All day today I was thinking "Yay, it's July 16, we're halfway through Dale being gone!" Then I took a closer look, and we've still got 6 days until the halfway point. Dang.

So far during the time Dale's been gone, I've been coping pretty good. I think my experience from the times he was gone before have benefitted me, and although it's harder now with two kids, I still use some of what I've learned. The most important thing is I know I'm perfectly capable of taking care of things on my own and I don't completely rely upon my husband, which in my opinion pretty much causes the downfall of so many military marriages.

Occasionally though, my not-so-single mom confidence drops and I really wish he was home. Certain days the kids are tough to handle, and I can't help but be jealous of those whose husbands come home every night. Some days I'm completely and utterly drained from this 24/7 job and all I want to do is cry. I miss having my husband here to mow the lawn, kill a spider, or put air in the tires.

I'm asked a lot how I do it and my answer is almost always "Because I have to." That's kind of my mantra these days. I knew I was marrying the military and all that comes with it when I married Dale. I may complain about it a time or two, but this is the life I chose and I'm going to give it my all. I don't like having to do everything, but I will because I have to.

We've got 6 more days until our real halfway point. Yay! I'm hoping these 3 months help to prepare us for longer future deployments, and I hope my confidence continues to grow in Dale's absence. However, when Dale's home, I will absolutely be taking advantage of having that extra hand around to help out :)