Passed through the monthly ‘what I was doing X months ago at 12:04’ point – which means it has been just over six months ago that I received the phone call, and have been away from home four months now. Was not doing anything exciting, just walking out of the grocery store on the way home – which is symbolic in a way of this tour. At first was now new and exciting, now it is just a job. Strange how you get used to things, but this seems like my ‘normal’ life now… though only have been in Bahrain three months. The upside for me is that in a few weeks, I am done in Bahrain and after a few days at home, I get to live a new existence for the rest of the tour – breaks it up nicely.
Older three kids are at their grandparents for a few days, and Les’ sister took the youngest for the weekend, so Les was able to experience a bit of solitude – good for her. I think my biggest issue going home will be losing the total control I have over my time right now – I pretty much do what I want when I want. (Obviously, I have to go to work and all, but the rest of the time is mine – no kids, housework, etc). That and the chaos – a solitary apartment is quiet and orderly – no kids fighting / crying / yelling, etc. Conversely, Les will have to deal with me intruding on her order and discipline at home. Still, I look forward to going home.
Things are still going well with the homefront. Have evolved from phone calls to Facebook chat. Not sure why – I think chat is a lower bandwidth activity – you can chat and yet be doing other things that you could not do on phone. We don’t chat every day, but some days it is twice a day – up to a couple of hours – so the contact is pretty good. Or, there will not be a lot of catching up to do, as I am pretty much in the day to day loop. Also still Skype home to the kids once a week, but other than saying ‘hi’ they are really not into it. Good that they are getting independent.
Starting to pack and ship my ‘extras’ – stuff that I have bought out here and cannot fit in my suitcases. A downside of my next stop is there is not a lot of civilization – no UPS / Fedex store nearby like here, so no shipping / receiving stuff. I came over with just two duffel bags and a back pack, but have added a few things – mostly clothes. And, where I am going, wearing a uniform will be a rarity – I will be normally in business attire (or at least business casual). Translation – everything I brought here I am pretty much sending back.
That’s about it – about to the 1/3 point, which feels good yet still hard to believe have to do this much twice again. Oh well, I know that I could have it far far worse over here. I still have an Iraq trip posting to finish, so a flurry of activity then things may be pretty quiet on the blog front – not really sure I want to blog from my next location.
No comments:
Post a Comment