A few days ago the government decided to send Griffins to support the Chinooks in Afghanistan.  The announcement was made on Nov. 26 – the day Drew left for Calgary.  Yep, that’s right.  He was home less than a week before heading out again.  He’s due back next week and the first group is heading over to Afghanistan on Monday. Luckily for me he’s not in the first group.  However, as it stands at the moment, he’ll be gone before Christmas – so I expect the house to be a complete mess for the next few days weeks months.

Today I get a phone call that began with “I just wanted to call and tell you  before you heard it on the news.” Never a good sign.  A necessary action none the less.  The call came in just before noon and at 1:30pm today the Edmonton Journal already had a story posted on their website indicating that 30 members of 408 TacHel are shipping out starting Monday. The good news is that Drew isn’t leaving Monday.  The bad news is he’s leaving just a few weeks later.

After a year of playing hurry up and wait – no planned vacations and living day-to-day and week-to-week because you never knew if/when the call to go would come – it seems that time has begun moving far too quickly.

I strikes me that we’re not ready and yet when it comes to the big things we’ve been ready for months. Still, silly thoughts run through your mind. The dogs need to go to the vet. Can he bring some “dirty civy” clothes with him? The garage isn’t finished. I don’t know how to mix the gas/oil blend for the snow blower. My exams are in two weeks. The house is a mess. He’s not packed. Pen? Paper? Camera? iPod? Laptop? Who’s going to go watch Gordon Lightfoot with me? The extra insulation isn’t in the roof yet. I need an eye exam – who will drive me if I need drops put in? Are our emergency contact people still willing to fill the role?

Normally people shipping out have months to get themselves in order and some time off to spend with the family before they go. It looks like that won’t happen this time round. I don’t know the individual situations of the 30 crew who leave in three short days.  I do know that Drew doesn’t expect to have any time off work as he and a few other stragglers ramp up to leave.

One thing that I do hope is that we’ll get some time together before he leaves – and I’ll get some time to myself once he’s gone.  It’s one thing to get used to someone being away for a short trip it’s completely different getting used to the idea that you’ll be “single” for a 6-9 month period. So, if you’re calling to get together for dinner or to drop by and chat, this might not be the best time.  Sure, we’re friends and all that, and yes, we do love to see you, but with an unknown time left before he leaves we’d certainly appreciate it if you understand if/when we say no to whatever you’d like to plan and choose instead to stay home.

On the bright side – yes, there has to be a bright side at this stage or we’d all go crazy – we’ll be skipping Christmas until his return in the late spring. I no longer need to run around stores looking for the perfect non-charity oriented present.  I’ve already got a tonne of the charity related ones ready to go 😉  I can wait until the great boxing week sales and do all my shopping throughout the cold and dark winter.

I don’t suppose I can get sympathy points on my final exams in 2 weeks considering the circumstances? Nah.  Didn’t think so. Guess it’s a good thing I registered for an extra class next semester. I’ll be even busier with school than normal and have lots to keep me occupied.

Now please excuse me, I have to go take my phone off the hook.

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