The D word

I've been avoiding one very pertinent and important topic in this blog. I call it the D word.

I haven't allowed myself the time to really sit down and think about how much this word is going to affect my life. Our lives. 

Deployment. 

It's not that I'm in denial about it. I've known it was coming since we met 6 years ago. The question was never will it happen, it was when. And now I know the answer. Soon. Very soon. 

So soon, in fact, that I can't avoid it anymore. Boo.

Dale's unit has it's mobilization orders, he's working on getting his security clearance, and the ball is in motion for a June departure. It's time for me to face the facts and prepare my pretty little head for my husband's first overseas deployment.

What will he be doing overseas? Flying a KA-300, like the picture. According to Dale, the difference between it and the C-12 is like driving an Ford F-350 instead of an Ford F-150. So it's a bigger, more powerful version of the plane he flies here in Nebraska. 

The good news is it's only a 9 month deployment. That's not so bad. I can handle 9 months of being a not-so-single mom. I know lesser people who've done longer and lived. I don't have any doubts about my own ability to handle the situation. The only questionable thing will be how are the kids going to handle it? I guess I had better get to figuring out ways to make it easier on them. The time has come.