Deployment Checkup - 6 More Months To Go

I bet I'm going to jinx myself, but one month into this deployment and so far everything has been a cake walk.  Perhaps it's because life is drastically less stressful than it was during the last deployment.  Or that Mike and I have spent over half of our relationship apart and we know how to handle the situation with grace.  Or that we're one of those weird couples who thrives when we get a break from each other (it's actually a good thing to miss your spouse once in a while).

At any rate, this has not been a difficult separation thus far.  Sure, I was a little bummed the first couple of days, but I've been seriously so slammed at work that I've had little time to sit and mope (which is really bad anyways).

The trickiest thing has been switching to "single gal with cats" mode.  I didn't have a head start on this at all prior to Mike's departure.  It's amazing how much time it takes to address a messy apartment, laundry-pocalyse 2012, bare cupboards, and unorganized paperwork.

I swear I've run errands almost every day in the past month.  Boredom has not been a problem!  I've also been traveling quite a bit between work and social visits to friends.  Minus the business trip, I've really enjoyed my outings, but that's also time I'm not spending adjusting my life (or exercising ... cough ...).

Through traveling has me booked solid the next 5 weekends (one social, 3 graduations, one business), my work schedule is coming back down to normal.  It's nice to not feel so overloaded with projects and it helps me to feel more kindly about my job when I'm not working 50-60 hours a week when I'm paid for 37.5.

Financially, our to-do list is coming along nicely.  Our personal family debt was smashed out of the park the first paycheck.  I have $2,000 socked away for our downpayment on a Carribean vacation (which is half of the total cost).  I've also kicked down our credit card balance by $800.  That's pretty good for one month.  Granted, because I've done ZERO grocery shopping (except for milk, eggs, and salad), I haven't started on our pantry goal yet, but that's coming.  

As I've been explaining to my truly caring coworkers, I am really lucky for this deployment.  I don't have kids to manage, elderly parents to take care of, I'm not pregnant or in bad health, and no one in the family is having a medical crisis.

Mike was talking about how some of his unit buddies have first-time deployment wives who are freaking out (been there, done that).  He said the nicest thing when he confessed he was glad we were past that stage, that being apart just isn't a problem anymore - he's not worrying about me and I'm not worrying about him.  I agree.