Back to Iraq after leave

I've been on leave (vacation) for the last two weeks from Iraq and I've got to say that I've adjusted back to civilian life quickly and easily. For leave, I chose to come back home to Crystal Lake. The Army will fly you pretty much anywhere, but trying to meet the rest of my family in Germany or somewhere like that would have been a pain and expensive. Plus my wife hates to fly, so that would have made it difficult as well.

Coming back to Crystal Lake allowed me to see family and friends, as well as catch up on some things around the house that my wife didn't get to do. Maybe didn't want to do is a better phrase. Try as I might, I couldn't get her to change the oil on our SUV. The gutters also needed to be cleaned but I urged her not to do that, since she's been pretty accident prone in the last year. She's had several broken bones, and various scrapes and nicks from biking and running accidents. I didn't need her falling off the roof.

All of these little chores around the house are good because it helps me relax and keep my mind off Iraq.  In the back of my head, I'm dreading going back, but two weeks has gone by pretty fast. Even though I'll hate going back, I don't have that much longer left before we're done. I'm anticipating being home sometime in early February, but that could change a couple weeks in either direction. There's also a lot of little milestones that will help those last few months go by quickly, like the holidays, different units moving in and out, and, of course, packing up to come home.

As I head back to the Middle East, it will be hard, but I'll go back with a lot less time left and return to a somewhat familiar environment, which will make it much easier to get back into a routine. A part of me is actually looking forward to getting back just so I can get the deployment over with.