Going Back to Iraq, Again

J called me at 3:30pm yesterday. He said 'they want me to go to Iraq. I leave in 3 weeks'

J went to Iraq in 2003. He went again in 2005. He went to Korea in 2006. Now he can add another Iraq ''notch'' for 2009.

A guy that was supposed to go on the deployment is being kicked out of the military for being a fat lazy a$$. He failed his fitness test FOUR times (so for like a year he couldn't pass). Because 'fatty' is being kicked out of the military, they HAD to fill his spot. It was either J or another guy who JUST got up here like 3 weeks ago. It wouldn't be fair for that other guy to go, so J said he'd go.

The cons:
He'll be away from his family
He'll miss seeing his new born son grow (just like he missed K)
He'll be shot at and could get killed (he could also crash his car any day and be killed here I suppose)
I wont get any sex for 8 months
He'll be away from his family
He'll be away from his family

The Pros:
It helps some one else out
We'll make a LITTLE extra money
This *may* help him get the points he needs to get promoted next year
He wont be gone for 12 months!
I get to go home and see my family
I wont be going through it alone (I love you Ness!)

The irony in this, he left at the exact same point in K's life. He left when she was 2.5 months old. He's going to be leaving when B is 2.5 months old. The good new is, he'll be back for B's first birthday and Christmas!! YAY!

He leaves in just a few weeks (on the 5th of March). In May I'm going to head to the midwest with the kiddos (what an adventure that will be!!). He'd going to try to get out processed by the end of the week, and then take 10 days off to be with us.

As it goes in an active duty military wife's life, things are ever changing. Nothing is set in stone, until it's underway it seems. I know the kids and I will have lots of our own adventures, while J will have lots of his own.

He shouldn't have to go to Russia now in Dec., so that's good. We also wont have to extend out our time here in Alaska!! YAY!!

My good friend 'Ness' (you'll hear about her a lot) back in WI, is going to be on almost the EXACT same timeline as us. Her DH (dear hubby) is heading to TX now for training, and then will be going over seas the same time as my DH. It would be nice if our husbands could hook up with each other while over there, but the sandbox is a BIG place. Ness and her 2 gorgeous daughters (we've decided B is going to marry her youngest, A) are going to hopeful come up here towards the end of July/Aug.

So much weighs heavily on a wife's mind when their husbands are deployed. Are they ok, what are they doing, who are they with, what have the seen, will they be ok when the get back?? The burning question on lots of minds, 'is he cheating?' That ladies and gentle men will be touched on often, as it comes up often. Men/women in the military are no more likely to cheat on their spouses than men/women who stay at home every day. I've seen families ripped apart, hide it, drag through it, and get over it. I've seen wives back home cheat and know of men over there that cheat. But I'll dive into that later.

*women over there cheat too (obviously) and men back home cheat too, I'm just phrasing it as it applies to me and most of my friends, as wives at home*