Purgatory

Well, the past two days have been enlightening. I have spent them at the military base 4 hours away trying to get an i.d. that will let me into the country. My company had all the paperwork sent to me and I took it to the base but when I got there, there was a field on the application that was supposed to be filled out by someone in Iraq and it was not. We tried calling and mailing but it was going on midnight there so no luck. I drove and spent the night an hour away at a relative's house. It was nice because I rarely get to see this person and his fiance. We had a nice fish & chips dinner at a little Irish pub and they paid!! I like that. I bought a toothbrush and we went back to their place to watch movies. My nose was running like crazy when we got back to their place and I wondered if I'd be sick again before winter was over.

Sure enough, with the coming of morning, I felt terrible. I drove back to the base for another round of who's-fault-is-it and three hours later, I finally got the i.d. At the same time I was at the base, my wife was e-mailing Iraq to get additional information. She called on my cell to tell me that my departure day was Monday, the 21st. I've been packed for a while and I've said my goodbyes so I'm ready. I drove back home 4 hours feeling absolutely miserable. I used a half a box of tissues so I didn't even go straight home. Instead I went to the doctor to get something for this stupid cold. I can't drag 60 pound bags half way round the world feeling like this. I am dreading it now because I know when Monday rolls around, I'll be in the main throws of the illness. I've never been able to sleep on planes but maybe this time, I will.

My wife feels much better about the whole thing since she spoke to someone on the phone with the company today. They put her mind at ease about the conditions that I'll face over there. The hardest part of the trip so far is coming though.......saying goodbye to my children. I can hardly think about it without getting shaken. At the same time though, children have gone through a hundred times the adversity and come out okay. I will miss them dearly and they will miss me.... They do however look forward to sleeping in Mommy's bed for a whole year!! My son is too young to understand but my daughter is at an awkward age for this. I have spoken to her at length about the trip and assured her that I would run, fight, dig, or mow people down to get back to her and her brother.

I'll write when I hear more but for now, it's just get ready to go time.