Day 46 - Early

Well, I'm actually writing this before I go to bed --- Al called super early (for him) - he usually calls in the afternoon his time - before I go to work my time --- but because he is going on a mission today - he wanted to make sure to talk to me before he left (YES, I am engaged to the sweetest man on earth!).

Al is doing good - really good. He actually laughed and sounded genuinely happy for the first time in a long time - everything didn't feel rushed and he said that things are settling down - that they are getting into a routine - and that they feel good about stuff. That makes me happy and it makes me breathe a HUGE sigh of relief. I know that he is super excited to see friends today that he hasn't seen in over a month too. He promised to take tons of pictures for me - so hopefully I'll be able to post those for you soon.

He told me a funny story that they were emptying rounds or testing rounds (my girl brain didn't quite understand) - anyway, bullets were going off early this morning - "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM" - and the chaplain, who Al shares a tent with - was saying in his sleep - "Come In!" - the bullets would go off again - "BOOM, BOOM, BOOM" - and the chaplain would yell out, "Come In" - it had everyone cracking up!! It's got to be pretty crazy to have a big group of guys sleeping in a tent together - I'm sure that I'll get plenty of more stories before this year is up!

I wrote this list tonight for my Army Wives board . . .

TOP TEN REASONS WHY IT IS BETTER TO BE IN JAIL THAN TO BE A DEPLOYED U.S. SOLDIER:

1. When you are in jail, your civil liberties guarantee you a warm, cozy bed – soldiers sleep wherever they can – sometimes in leaky tents – sometimes on the ground.

2. When you go to jail – you definitely know when you have to be there – there’s no discrepancy about your ‘start date’ – you can also safely countdown to the day that you definitely get to leave – it won’t change 15 times and OPSEC doesn’t prevent you from telling your loved one about it.

3. You don’t have to MOB to go to jail – there’s no training involved – step out of your front door, do something stupid – go to jail. It starts instantly and there’s no fear of “jail” hanging over your head because it happens right away!.

4. In jail, you can sleep with your “girlfriend” every night – all night (okay, I know this one’s gross!)

5. Mail service is always fast and speedy in jail – soldiers can wait weeks and weeks for mail that sometimes never comes because somebody stole it.

6. In jail – the phone works great – even if do you have to make collect calls – there’s no such thing as waiting weeks for an inmate to call – they stand in line for hours because they don’t have anything better to do – unlike soldiers who are busy defending our freedom!

7. When you are in jail – you get a free representative who only cares about whether your legal rights are being protected – sure wish the same was true for our soldiers – might want to ask a Vietnam Vet about that one!

8. It’s cool and trendy to be in jail – ask Winona Ryder or Michael Jackson – all the stars do it – almost as much as they whine and moan about war. Back in the day, it used to be cool for Hollywood stars to join the military – think of Elvis Presley or Jimmy Stewart. My how times have changed.

9. In jail you get guaranteed time to sleep – lights out at 10 p.m. – lights on at 6:00 a.m. – you also get a FULL hour of recreation time ---- I wonder if our Marines who cleared out Fallujah got a schedule like that?

10. ****DRUMROLL PLEASE**** And the final reason why it is better to be in jail than to be a deployed US soldier,

TWO WORDS ---

Conjugal Visitation!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!