25 days...

Kellen called today and said they are switching room assignments, mixing it up. He's not too keen on having to move all his gear and re-settle, but he's excited for his new roommate assignment. His current roomie is a young med student who needed the encouragement and military "know-how" Kellen could offer, so it was good for Kellen to be able to offer that counsel. His new roomie is the other "PT stud" in the company. This guy (I've forgotten his name!) is to be stationed in SC once ODS wraps up, so it's likely to be a contact to keep.

Kellen has today and Monday (b/c it's Memorial Day) "off". He had to remain on base, but at least there were no drills or classes. He has "watch" tonight- last time that consisted of standing in uniform with a weapon on his shoulder- nothing happens and it's rather boring, but it's teaching them something, I guess. He says he's not getting much sleep since he has to do assignments and ready his gear in the midnight hours. Lights out starts at 10pm; that essentially means that the hall light is out, but they are free to roam about the quarters and do laundry, etc. They are up at 4am for PT, breakfast at 5:45am, then shower/get dressed and then class. I'm sure some days are more varied than that, but that seems to be the gist.

I got off work by mid afternoon and met my mom in Mebane at the outlets. It was good for me to spend my free afternoon with her and just hang out with a person :) I've always appreciated our relationship and I'm thankful for days when I get to spend time with her and be encouraged by her. I'm a lucky daughter to have such a great mom.

Kellen has been gone a week. Today hardly felt like Sunday since I had to work and missed church. We're down to 25 days. That's so much better than 32! I know that these next 25 days can offer me some valuable lessons about who I am and who God is and who He wants me to be. I hope I don't keep myself so distracted from missing Kellen that I fail to grow in his absence. It's tempting to keep the "just survive" mindset and allow myself the excuse of being alone to be lackadaisical. On my own perhaps surviving is the best I could hope for, but I'm not on my own. And that should really motivate me.

Monday marks day 8 of work... 5 more days til a 3 day weekend! I can hardly wait! I'm enjoying lots of pool time, which is nice! Lots of the toddler activities take a summer hiatus, so the days are pretty low key- not that there's much excitement in library story times, toddler gymnastics and music classes... but still, there's not a set schedule or place to be 3 days a week. Jack keeps me on my toes and he has such a sense of humor and so much personality. He cracks me up and astonishes me with how quickly he picks things up and how naughty he can be too :) He's a handful, but so much fun! His brothers are also a handful, but thankfully most of the time it's just one monster and not all three (the mom calls them monster... it's a term of endearment...). It's nice to work for someone who knows her children are imperfect, flawed creatures who need love and direction. And it's nice to be trusted with that responsibility... though sometimes it truly is some of the best birth control out there.