Greetings from the treadmill of pre-mobilization!

[aadler]

 
All right. This entry marks the beginning of such account I will give of my upcoming deployment to Iraq, for anyone who feels the vaguest interest.

Open first cut — Military Issues

Yes, I’m under orders now, working my way through lengthy pre-deployment training and processing at Fort Dix. (All the stuff we went through before this? that was just to reduce how much we would have to do once we arrived here.) We won’t leave until sometime in July, which offers some sense of how much preparation they provide now for getting a unit ready for a year in-theater.

As scheduled, we loaded up to come here on the morning of the 19th. My internet connection was out for a couple of days before that, though, and I left my wireless laptop for Susan to use in finishing her online doctorate, and our days have been so busy as to afford me very little opportunity to seek a net connection elsewhere. The result was that it was over a week before I could check on LJ, and today before I could manage an entry.

Close cut

Open second cut — Personal Issues

Susan went to Pennsylvania, Wednesday the 15th through Saturday the 18th, to take part in early graduation for the doctoral program she’s completing online. She isn’t actually due to finish before the end of the summer session, but she elected to get the experience and networking available through the ceremony, albeit in advance of her actual qualification. All that was good; not so good, on the first day she tripped on an uneven sidewalk and broke her ankle (hairline fracture, but severe muscle/ tendon sprain). So now she’s back at home, alone, with a broken ankle and a workplace environment that is somewhat less supportive than one might prefer. Furthermore, she closed on our new house a week ago (the 20th), so moving our possessions from our current rental to our new home is substantially more difficult for her than anticipated … and, of course, I’m not there now to help.

Yeah. I have the easy part of the coming year. I’ve done two combat deployments now, and enjoyed both, and expect to have a comparable experience this time through. Though our current reconciliation is still relatively new, Susan and I have years of marriage behind us; still, this is my third trip ‘into the box’, but it will be her first stint as a deployed soldier’s wife.

In less than two weeks, my son Kevin will begin a one-month trip to China. That will mean both my kids have journeyed to the Far East. He’s getting excited about that. I know I would be, in his place.

(Before I left, he gave me a silver St. Benedict crucifix, said to have been blessed by the Pope, that his deacon brought back from a trip to Rome. I wear it everywhere except to bed, in the shower, or during PT.)

Close cut

Open third cut — Fanfic Writing Issues

Saturday the 25th, after a sudden 5,000-word dash at the end, I finished the draft of my rewrite of sroni’s initial draft of “Queen’s Gambit”: 52,000 words, a year and ten months exactly after I began. (With five other stories completed in the meantime.) I compose in longhand; I had keyed in some as I went, but entering the final 10,000 words may take awhile, then there’s the process of editing and polishing, then I’ll have to get it to sroni for her evaluation and comments and suggested corrections, then respond to/ evaluate/ incorporate said suggestions … but the draft is finished, and that’s always been the biggest (and hardest, and slowest) part.

Just before I left, I saw a comment that, though later than usual, remixredux will indeed be coming again this year. I love participating in remixes; I only hope my current situation (e.g., no consistent internet access) won’t hamper or even prevent my taking part this time through.

Close cut

There’s more, plenty more, and I’ll try to address some of it in subsequent posts. This is what I have time to put out now.

Comments

[texanfan.livejournal.com]

Life sounds excrutiatingly busy. I'm so sorry to hear about Susan's ankle. Trying to move while impaired is the absolute pits. Prayers being said for your safety and Susan's speedy recovery.

[ozma914.livejournal.com]

Jeez, I thought I was busy. Good luck with both the pre-deployment work and the home front -- I hope the ankle is all healed up soon.