Glittery Bombshell

This past Thursday, while finishing and packing up from a sewing class I'm taking, I get an anxious phone call from Aaron.

"Where are you?" he says.

"I'm still at sewing class. Why, what's up?" says me...

"Ummm, well, when are you coming home?"

This is when I start to get worried - what happened? Did he hurt himself? Did I forget to put the parking break on the car and it rolled down the hill? Did he break something!!?!

"What is going on..."I hesitantly say.

"Well, it's confusing, just come home."

Sooo - I pack up and try my hardest to get away from all of the craft ladies at the craft store but MAN do those ladies like to talk. SERIOUSLY. I was trying not to be rude but I just could not break away from the chit chat.

Eventually I just blurt that I need to go and leave. The sewing place is about a mile and a half from my house.

I walk in the door and sniff - no fire smell. no bloody carpet. no screams of pain. *whew!*

All seems well.

I find Aaron in the dining room looking oddly upset.

I fight my inner desire to go up to him and grab his shoulders and yell "What Happened!??" but instead I say I calmly say "Hey babe, what's up?"

He drops what I would call a "Glittery Bombshell"

Aaron got a job!

HURRAY!!!!!! Right??? Well - sort of. Aaron's new job is governmental which is fantastical - but, its in Utah.

What a great opportunity - what awful timing and so very far away.

We are both trying very hard to remain strong and positive about this very unexpected situation. After all - he's been striking out a lot for a year now and I think he'd given up for awhile - that mixed with the fact that he applied for this job in March/April and had heard nothing.

I'm not sure what I am expecting people to say or how they will react. Most people are ignoring the distance and separation and instead really saying how fantastic it is that he got this job.

Which it is - and I know there are the people who didn't get the job or who don't have the job - but at the end of 2009, if Aaron finished this project on time we will have only lived together for 14 out of 52 weeks.

We are newly weds folks... this is tough for us.

My good friend Michelle mentioned that it makes people uncomfortable and maybe that’s why no one is saying anything. Which could be true.

We are still dealing with this news - I have no idea how soldiers spouses do it. Really, I don't.

So here's the facts:
- Aaron is the crew leader (Hurray!)
- He'll be working in North East Utah
- He'll be doing work with an invasive herbaceous species and leading a small team of workers.
- Aaron leaves August 1st and will return at the end of November (if the project is on time...)
- There is no internet but there is a hill you can climb to use your cell phone. No word yet if there is mail service yet.
- This is a huge opportunity for Aaron to get himself out there and to maybe get a long term government job (the ULTIMATE career goal for Aaron!)

Sooooo - we're dealing. Aaron is having a harder time dealing with it than I am. I tend to distance myself from him before he leaves - it makes goodbyes easier for me but it makes things super hard for Aaron because it feels like he's already gone.

The other hard part is that there are other peoples agendas to take into consideration. The new house has two major projects (Painting exterior and sub pump under house) that are supposed to be finished before August 1st (I don’t know where this worrisome deadline came from....) and we are behind with both of them. I have a conference for a week and Aaron and I are going to Laramie together, but for research purposes - not leisure.

So, finding time for each other in July is going to be tough.

He’s also taking the car which I need for my new teaching job that starts August 6th, so if the magical car fairy could bring me a car, that would be great!

That's our news, folks!

We just never know what is going to be happening.

Love,
A&M