Last day of pre-Sather

Today was a rough day. I had to say goodbye to Gina, Chelsea, and Jenna. We had such a great weekend, we hung out at the room Friday, and went to Knotts Berry Farm Saturday. it was a blast, not only seeing the girls love the rides but I really was getting into them as well. I haven't been there in 30 years. Montezuma's revenge was the big thing back then, now it is a side attraction. Some of those rides had some seriou G's going. We then capped it off with dinner at the California Pizza Kitchen. The last two weeks I have been eatin whatever comes to mind, knowing I won't be eating many of my favorite platters in a while. Killed it with Caesar salad, tequila pasta, and chicken chipotle pizza. Perfect! Today, crappy! I'm not the kind of dude that shows sadness very well. It's just hard for me to cry when people are around. I said goodbye, of course my wife and kids are crying. It didn't hit me until the car started to pull away. It is incredibly depressing, I have had a real hard time wrapping my brain around being away from them until the summer. When I was in bootcamp I was isolated 9 weeks, when I went on my mini west pac I was gone 10weeks, and when I was at Camp Zama it was for 6weeks. This is about 18 weeks. I'm just bummed and annoyed that I have to do this deployment right now. Besides putting my life on hold I have had to spend a considerable amount of money getting all the things needed to make the deployment as tolerable as possible. Just to make something clear, the purpose of this blog is to describe not only what I see but what I feel as well. Please know my overall feelings here, I am very much aware of the greater sacrifices many servicemen are going through then what I will endure, soldiers going outside the wire, facing grave danger, with 9-12 month deployments instead of the 18 weeks that I'm doing. I am aware of the men who have lost their lives or suffered through horrific injuries. I am also aware of the people who busted their a--es making Sather AB more safe then before 2007. I feel honored to serve for my country and it isn't just empty words. Being a history teacher and well versed in the government systems of many countries, what we have here is so precious and worth risking your life for. I am a part of history, part of what will be talked about in history books as Operation New Dawn. I am aware of all of this, yet there will be days I'm not really feeling it, that I'm bummed or angry or annoyed. Don't judge me as being selfish, wimpy, or ungratefull, I just may be having a low moment. I have explained my general thoughts on the whole thing, and those will not change. I'm going to finish up my packing, I thought I was going to see my childhood friend Mike who lives in nearby Murrietta, but he never called. probably fo the better, not really feel in social right now. I'll write more tomorrow, wow, the next time I will be in this status it'll be summer!