March..........

I got a call from Philip today. We talked about many things. His grief over losing his Grandpa Gosvener and wishing he could be near me during this time. Towards the end of the call he told me the most devastating of all news...........his R&R from Iraq is set for March. Not Christmas. Although he put in for it, two other people, DANG and a T.J. (Don't know him) put in their re-enlistment contracts to have choice of R&R dates and they choose Christmas.

It was a disappointing blow. I can't say I am surprised, I geared myself for it. However, March is a lot longer time than I expected. That's well over half of his tour....about 9 months of it. So he said on the bright side, "We will have only six months left after R&R". I guess that is true. It's the space in between that is the hardest I think.

I was feeling bored in my house last night and so I went and saw the movie "Mamma Mia", which is a musical of ABBA songs. I was on the fence whether to see it or not, but there was no other chick flick movies out and I had already seen Batman and Hancock and just wasn't in the mood for Action. I was pleasantly surprised. Not that the movie had any real "substance", but it was uplifting none the least. It was full of songs that made you want to sing along! So I guess it was a winner in terms of giving my mood a boost. I also rented "Atonement", which I also was prejudice about. I had only heard bits of what it was about and didn't know if it was as epic as many had said. I thought that it was a wonderful period piece that had one of those deep and lasting impressions. That kind of movie that when it is over you stare at the credits poundering the depth of it.

So, the truth is I have been scouring for a meaningful book to read. I am just not in the mood for non-fiction right now. I want a comparable book to the movie Atonement. One vivid with imagery and meaning. So, I will continue that journey at the library...maybe today.

Update: A month....

Philip has been gone exactly a month.....tomorrow. The hardest thing is the lack of communication. Just last Saturday my sister called to tell me her water had broke and of course I wanted to share this with my husband. But, I couldn't. I couldn't call him up or text him. All I could do was email him and hope he had a chance to go to the internet cafe in the next few days. So far, he hasn't been able to get internet in his room. He said they don't have any servers available.

He calls me about 2 times a week and I never know when or if he will call. Usually the conversations last about 15 minutes or less because they use phone booths that everyone else uses and they are only allowed to talk so long.

Philip seems to be doing good. They keep them so busy he rarely has time to think about things....like I do. Like tonight, I really wish I could be able to talk to him, even if that meant Instant messaging with him. But, I am writing tonight to get it out.

I have been back in Kansas for a week visiting my new nephew, Ethan and it has been nice to be back. Today I went to Oswego and participated in a Christmas in July stamping class put on by Sarah Gilreath, who is my TAC upline. (i.e. TAC is The Angel Company, I am an independent demonstator with the company based out of Salina, KS). They showed me some really cool ideas for Christmas! I love getting new ideas for paper crafting!

Austin

So I have been in Austin since Sunday. I am staying with Philip's family friends Beth and Larry. I had a really good connection with them when Philip and I visited them back in April, so I decided to come down again and visit.

Beth and I went to a card making class this evening. I must say that it was wonderful at teaching me a few new techniques, but I was overwhelmed as was Beth at the level of difficulty involved in these designs.

It involved using several different inks and surfaces. All of the stamping was done on acrylic or glossy paper, so Stazon ink was used. Versamark ink was used as well, which is a distressing type of ink.

The cards turned out good, but flawed. But, looking at them now, they are bursting with colors. So, these are definitely techniques I will use in the future!

Another good thing has occurred. Larry has a great sense of humor and well, I had one of those deep belly laughs that I hadn't really had in months. It was very refreshing to be laughing again.

Things are still hard and I miss Philip a little more each day, but I realize just as Beth and I discussed that I have to go on if for nothing else but self preservation while Philip and I are apart.

Beth and I are taking another class tomorrow night called, "Rubber Stamping Basics"--so this should be a whole light easier and I know I will learn some great new tricks!!!

Tomorrow I will have to upload the pictures of the cards I made!