L is for Loneliness.

Very early Monday morning, Matty left for training. This leaves me on my own for the next month, punctuated by a brief reunion and then nine long months of "strength training." I suppose this month is like a preview, allowing me to see what it will all be like, finding out who I will be leaning on, boosting my self-confidence in alone time. Letting me know, nine months is no problem. And it's not just nine months. It's a few months and then a trip home and then a few more months and a trip to - be still my beating heart! - Paris (or Spain, but since I'm the one doing the planning and making the reservations, I think we all know it will be a trip to Paris).

At this point, I'm not anxious. It's still pretty much life as usual. I'm still processing that this isn't just a week in the field, or two or three. This is it. This is deployment.

Online Shopping.

American Eagle ships to FPOs fast. Like, lightning fast. Like, the closest thing to running to a mall fast. I have made four orders from ae.com in the last two months. Those orders of beautiful, American style and more importantly AMERICAN SIZED clothes have gotten to me within a week of the ship date. It is oh-so-lovely.

With that said, nothing beats going to a mall and seeing, touching and trying on before you buy.

And now something to think about from my Good Earth tea bag tag:
"The world is a tragedy to those who feel, but a comedy to those who think." - Horace Walpole

J is for Jacki (My Mom).

I am going to try not to make this sound like an elementary school "My Hero" essay, but I can't make any promises.

My mom is my best friend. I'm not really sure when this happened - it might have been when I graduated high school and left for college or a year later when my family moved from Arizona to Georgia... I guess I really can't pin point any one time or thing that led to this, but here I am today with a best friend who couldn't be any more like me if we tried. We have the same freakin' genes.

My mom has B+ blood type. My mom has a "Be Positive" lifetype. I love my mom. She has the best sense of humor (strangely similar to my own...) and she has an immense bay of knowledge of all things. My mom was a Military wife for 24 years, which led her to sometimes have to be mom and dad. My mom supported my dad's career and allowed him to support us.

One of the strongest memories I have of my mom is when I was diagnosed with diabetes. Alone, in a clinic I had to break the news to my mom over the phone. She said, "If we were still in Phoenix, I would be getting in the car to be with you right now." Those heartbroken words ring in my ears when I think of my mom's love for me, and I'm not sure why. Maybe I knew it was true and I knew whatever to took, my mom was going to be there for me whether it was physically or prayerfully because of her love for her moldy little pickle.

My mom is amazing. Anyone who knows me knows my love for my mom. She always makes me laugh and is there for me when I cry, or even more comfortingly, or when we cry together. I hope some day (SOME DAY, NOT SOON) to be as loving, thoughtful and supportive as my mother is for me.

I love you, Mom.

Like the deserts miss the rains...

Things I miss (possibly just because I know I can’t have them):

-Panera Wild Blueberry Muffins and Cinnamon Crunch Bagels. And the Frontega Chicken Sandwich. And the Baked Potato soup. And chips. So, Panera Bread in general.

-Target. Not a single Target on this Island. And so far, nothing even resembling a Target. Since moving into the dorms my freshman year, I have relied on Target for everything. Mascara? They’ve got it. Something to wear to a wedding? Check. Neato one dollar thingamajigs? In excess.

-Pizza Chain Restaurants, furthermore good pizza places. My dear friend Stacee has brought it to my attention that it may be possible that my husband and I are pizza snobs. Fair enough, but I think we earned that title the day our dear friend David Letterman gave us a pie on our honeymoon. Ah, digression. Pizza here is terrible. Or at least the one place we ate was terrible. Think of the worst pizza you’ve EVER had and subtract about ninety taste points. Thank goodness for the Secret Family Recipe.

-Dry heat. Self explanatory.

-Coldstone Ice Cream and Frost Gelato. It was both good fortune and a curse to discover the beauty that is Tucson’s Frost Gelato Shoppe. Good fortune to have experiences something so very delicious and not a curse because I crave it. And there is really never a time that I am not craving Coldstone.

-Wendy’s. Something about Wendy’s just conjures up great feelings of nostalgia. Maybe it’s because Theatre History class was never over until our crew was done with their Frosty’s. Maybe it’s the late night drive-thru runs. The “good-good” commercials do not help this craving.

-Non-tempura fried shrimp. Beer battered shrimp is my seafood restaurant stand by. Tempura shrimp generally tastes like shrimp dipped in oil. Fried shrimp here = Tempura shrimp. ‘Nuff said.

-InTouch Weekly. My guiltiest of guilty pleasures. The Island is not without InTouch, it’s just that the issues you can find are at least three weeks old. At least. By then, the news is proven, disproven, or just plain no one cares any more. And although I can get all my celeb gossip online, there is something cathartic about flipping through my favorite glossy at my own leisure. Oh, and I definitely miss “Who wore it better?”

Things I will probably miss when we leave the Island:

-Vending Machines EVERYWHERE. I never fear about having low blood sugar while driving here thanks to the plethora of vending machines. You literally cannot drive a kilometer on this Island without driving by an inexpensive drink machine. And it’s not just soda – it’s tea and about a million other types of drink that I’m not quite sure of but just can’t help but try.

-Cutesy-ness. Everything here is cute. Signs all have cute cartoons here. I saw one for a hospice that had a very happy old man in a tub with his family/caretakers all around him, equally happy. You can find all sorts of items emblazoned with the cutest things you could ever think of. And, it’s the home of Hello Kitty. You don’t get cuter than Hello Kitty.

More to come, I'm sure.