Here we go again

It's that time for us...deployment. Mark is leaving out this week, headed to Afghanistan. He is scheduled to be there for 10 months, returning home in November 2011. You would think it would be easy by now. Packing up, saying bye, not really sure when the next phone call will come. It's not, though. Granted it becomes easier once we are a few days past departure day - we will fall back into the swing of it. We'll have countdowns, send daily emails, cellphone becomes permanently attached to my palm and I won't leave the house without it!  We will send care packages and lots of cookies. Maybe we can get Skype to work, that would be fun! It's so hard now though. Knowing that day is right around the corner. Watching him prep his gear, having holsters and goggles and helmets spread out around the bedroom. Packing his bags, and it's not just an overnight bag. He's packing all he will need for nearly a year. Watching him watch the kids. Trying to keep a picture of them just as they are now, knowing they will be so different when he returns. Trying to make the best of the time he has here now, knowing next week he isn't going to be able to tuck them in at night, or watch them play Just Dance. He won't be snuggling up on the couch at night to watch Cops together. Its hard to watch it unfold. It kills me to think what he is going through. I know he's emotional and sad about leaving home. I know he needs to stay focused and have a clear head about what's ahead of him,  I just don't know how he does it.  How he manages to balance it all and stay strong. He's amazing and I love him more everyday. We've made a promise to try not to shed any more tears until the day he leaves. Try to make the best of our time together. So, that's what we'll do.