there's still hope

rob had some news when he got home today.

the detailer had finally gotten in touch with him around 3pm today. what he's hoping to do is to issue rob orders to go to XO training (executive officer training, 2nd in command to you civilians). if those orders have a report date of april '06, then rob's name will be removed from the pot of many selections. (he had 18 months of shore duty remaining, that's a lot of time to send someone to iraq to fill a spot.) with only 4 months until reporting to XO training, there's not a lot they can do to screw you over.

the detailer is working really hard to get rob's name off this assignment.

rob has actually screened for xo. there's lots of lieutenant commanders that have screened for xo but they're on reserve, only to go to XO training if absolutely needed. i can't remember the phrase for them...hmmm. so the detailer is thinking to send one of those guys instead of a guy who fully screened. hope that makes sense. my emotions have been up, down & all around today.

after i got the news, i cried a bit. i think i was in shock, a lot of the day is kind of a blur. took reese to school...90 minutes late. wish they would publish a policy about how preschool students should handle late-start scheduling BEFORE they actually have to have a late start. arg. but reese got to play with her friends and didn't even realize she was only there for an hour. thank god! i couldn't have handled carrying her AND cade out to the car kicking & screaming.

rob and i have talked and if he does get sent to a sub out of pearl harbor or guam, i would stay in the 48 states and he would go on alone. i have absoluetly no desire to visit guam, let alone live there (aren't there some frickin' huge bugs there?) and living on an island like hawaii makes me feel claustrophobic. there's no where to go! except around this island or that island. i'm not much of a beach person anyway. i'd just age really fast, freckley skin doesn't stay pretty in the tropics.

an xo tour is 22 months (give or take). if rob does get sent to an island, i would probably sell this house in CT and rent a house in iowa, close to my parents. i would like to let my kids get to know my family more. as it is, reese remembers uncle chris & aunt sharon but they really only spend an afternoon or 2 when we visit. and i would like to be around to help out my parents more. who am i kidding, they'd probably end up helping me out. now that i think about it, i could use some support, dammit.

a teeny part of me hopes he does get hawaii. it would be neat to fly out once in a while to see him and that means he'd be doing pacific ocean tours...port calls in singapore, austrailia (!!). i asked rob about tahiti and he just laughed.

i really do think this is going to turn out ok. rob will end his shore duty early but to avoid iraq, i think it might be worth it.

thanks for all your prayers & thoughts :)