Michael's Home!

I got the call this morning; he had arrived in Atlanta and would be at the Indianapolis Airport at noon. I was beyond excited and headed up there early and still missed his arrival! His flight got in early and so while I was waiting for him where the passengers get off the plane, he was waiting at the baggage claim. And we both had the same picture in our minds of what it was going to be like, running to greet each other. Oh well. It's good to have him home and I now feel a huge sense of relief that he will definitely be home for the baby's birth. He's sleeping now, his schedule is extremely off from being half-way around the world and not getting a whole lot of sleep the last few days, but hopefully he will catch up on all that sleep tonight. We don't have much planned, which is good as two weeks won't be long enough as it is. We're just going to relax and enjoy each other's company and anticipate Nathan's arrival. But he's safe at home and happy!

In Country

Michael made it to Iraq Saturday night. He is still in the process of getting settled in so I don't have a lot of details. He is in a 2-man room, which is made out of connex. The chow hall is about a 10 minute walk, the gym (although not very big) is close, and his shop is not too far. He will have Internet in his room, which will make it a little easier for him to stay in contact with us. Their base is located next to another base (Air Force) and they can shuttle over there if they need to. The mission for them while they are there is maintenance (thank goodness!) and so he will be working in the shop. They are on 12-hour shifts and he will be working the night shift (7pm-7am) for now. Hopefully now he can get into a routine and time will go by quickly. I have sent out an email with his new address, but if I missed you and you want it, please let me know. The mail being sent to that base is extremely slow (one guy's wife sent something 3 weeks ago and it's still not there) and they might not get it that often (he's hearing they might only get it once a month), but I know he'd appreciate mail from home.

In Kuwait

Michael made it to Kuwait safely. He actually left Tuesday afternoon, but I didn't hear from him until today. I've had my phone by me everyday, waiting anxiously for his phone call, just to get an email from him! Apparently there was some problems with the switchboard at Camp Atterbury so he couldn't make a phone call home. I don't know a whole lot, the email was short and just to let me know he got there okay, but he's fine. Hopefully we will know more soon. In the meantime, some pictures of him at the airport in Maine on his way over.

*Kuwait is the stop that all the troops make before going into country. They will do more training here, probably to get get conditioned to the climate, for any where from 2-4 weeks.

Michael Starts Mobilization

Well, Michael left yesterday evening to start the mobilization process. It was extremely difficult to say good-bye. It's hard still just to write about it now. I know it will get easier and it's always the hardest at first. Good-byes just suck no matter what. We just keep telling each other that we can't get the deployment done until we get it started, so let's get it started. Jaime invited me to Thunder over Louisville tonight but I'm going to stay home. I think she's afraid of me becoming a hermit during all of this. I won't. I have so much to catch up on around the house and I have to go into school to get my plans ready for next week. I also just want to rest and be by myself. Just this weekend.

So, the mobilization schedule looks like this: He'll be at Muscatatuck Training Center (about 30 miles south) until the end of May for pre-mobilization training. He'll get a pass for a few days and then leave to Ft. McCoy, WI for mobilization training. He'll be there until he flies out around the beginning of July. They will probably get a 3 or 4 day pass at the end of June and so I'll drive up there to visit him.