My inspiration

Well, well, well. James has decided to join the fun! I have been telling him that I was going to start this blog since I learned about my deployment about a month ago. My inspiration was the doctor in Bagram who I'll be replacing; she and her husband (who is non-military but is quite busy with their three children while she's gone) have a 'joint' blog which I found interesting and enlightening. Her family has benefitted greatly from the information posted there, and she says that it has helped make 7,000 miles seem much shorter. And I'll do anything that makes 7650 or 1425 miles seem shorter!!! :-)

She has also been a great help to me in preparing for my deployment. My unit (602nd ASMC out of Ft. Bragg) is already in Bagram, and so I am technically a replacement doc. This means that rather than deploying with my unit, I am joining them in theater, and I do not have the luxury of preparing at the same time as the rest of the unit. (Of course, the grand advantage of being a replacement doc is that the tour is only 6 months, rather than 12.) That being said, I am garnering as much information as possible from as many people as possible in order to prepare myself as completely as possible.

And not only am I packing for Afghanistan, but I am also packing for California. For everyone. So I'm packing myself, James, and Matt for the trip to California; James and I will be staying for several weeks, and Matt will be there for 6 months. Packing for a 6-month trip for a 1-year-old has been quite a challenge! I'm managing, though, and slowly but surely the luggage is piling up in my room ....

.... and I am beginning to get quite excited about the events of the next 3 weeks!!! Our calendar looks like this:

- Thursday, January 29th: Leave El Paso
- Friday, January 30th: Arrive Los Angeles
- Saturday, January 31st: James leaves Baghdad
- Sunday, February 1st: Move into Matt and Loretta's apartment in Glendora
- Tuesday, February 3rd: James expected to arrive in Glendora
- Thursday, February 12th: Operation Love Reunited photo session (www.oplove.org)
- Tuesday, February 17th: James leaves Glendora to return to Baghdad
- Thursday, February 19th: Autumn leaves Glendora to return to El Paso
- Saturday, February 21st: Autumn reports to Ft. Benning for pre-deployment processing

Sounds exciting, doesn't it?? I can't wait for James, Matt, and me to all be in the same place for a few weeks. I'm not exactly sure what else is on the agenda, but I'm pretty sure we'll be headed to Disneyland (who, by the way, has some great 2009 deals for military members) and also to Tolteca (every day if James gets to choose!). I'll be sure to keep you updated on the fun .....