Begining of the dress rehearsal

   Pete left last night for his conference in Salt Lake City, and then will leave directly from there to head to NTC (National Training Camp or Center...not sure which...) at Ft. Irwin, California for the month.  AKA: Death Valley/Fake Afghanistan.  One would think that the hardest part of this would be saying goodbye for a month however I was mistaken.  The Army gave Pete so much gear to bring with him that it took over my house.  It didn't help that Pete is like a tornado and throws things everywhere:

I felt like a parent with their child when they get a new toy and had to look and actually touch each new thing because he was so excited about his sweet swag. 

And then...

...Dress Up started

 

   I love Pete's enthusiasm about pretty much anything and everything but the thought that a medic kit brought as much excitement as a new surfboard was a little odd.  So I smiled, and played with his new 'toys' while thinking the entire time how horrible all of this is.  I know this is his job, and that this is the gig I signed up for but I still think it stinks.  Pete was scrambling trying to fit all of his gear in two duffel bags, two backpacks, and his snowboard bag (for the conference in Salt Lake City) up until the time we had to leave for the airport.  I'm glad we had this time to do a  dress rehearsal for when he really leaves in April because I am going to make sure he has everything packed at least 3 nights before he actually leaves so that he can actually relax, not be stressed,  and we can enjoy the last nights together.  Now the he is gone I am going to clean up the tornado that remains in the house and be thankful that we get to have the month of March to be together and go to the Bahamas for my dear friend Kendall Enmark's wedding (there is your shout out goober).