No Baby Yet

Today is Heather's due date, and no baby yet. When we got here, we were expecting Bill to be deployed the next morning, but that was extended out to Saturday, and now he's for sure leaving tomorrow morning.

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So the above is what I wrote Sunday morning minus a lot more, but the internet wireless connection I pick up from some neighbor was so spotty yesterday that it didn't post.

Bill is off to Iraq and no baby came on her due date. We were up last night at 1am to drive Bill to his check-in and wait in a gym sitting on bleachers watching the 2 units come together. We ate grilled hot dogs at 2am and the 4 buses of guys drove off at 3am. I was fine till I saw a maybe 12 year old boy walk away with his mom with red, teary eyes, after saying their goodbyes at the bus. Heather stood by Bill's bus window till it drove off. She's sad.

3/4 of the people around here when we're out shopping, eating, and in church are military family peoples. And there's a great mix of so many varieties of people at church and everywhere- from Oriental, Hispanic, Blacks and all. It all feels so healthy and whole. We feel Heather will be surrounded by people who are familiar with long separations and are a great support to one another. She's looking forward to next year's return and helping out with all the homecoming events, which is really a big deal around here.

On base you hear trumpet tunes at 6:30am, 5pm and taps at 11pm. It's not loud, so if the home's not quiet, you miss them. I'm starting to look at clocks at 5 to check their timing, and it's a nice sound. We need ID's to get back on the base when we leave, and because I didn't check in with Monte at the visitor center, or I might need my own vehicle rental, I can't go off by myself without either Monte or Heather. I guess this will help us feel that Heather will be safe here alone.

Gotta go. Monte and me found an old town street last Friday that had lots of used furniture stores and we've found some great bargains for some of the cozy needs around here. So today we paint them. I'll try and post pictures some time soon.