Post-leave depression

Well, I'm back in Iraq and not very excited about it. I had a great two weeks off and enjoyed the cooler weather of the midwest. I spent a lot of quality time with my wife and kids and even got to see a Bears game. At the end, I had a pretty good attitude about coming back to Iraq; the faster I get back, the faster I can finish up the deployment.

The first day wasn't bad, but I fell victim to what everyone calls the post-leave depression. I equated it to having all the stupid stuff that you're used to dealing with come back and hit you all at once, instead of gradually.

My sleep schedule also was turned upside down. I'd be wide awake from about 1 a.m. until about 6 a.m., then sleep until noon (on my day off) and start it all over again. I was glad to see that at least I wasn't the only one subject to this madness, as I saw several people I went on leave with, at the cyber café at 5 a.m.

The hardest part for me though was the seperation from my family after spending so much time with them.  I kept busy and thought about other things, but you can only do so much to keep your mind off of something that special.

I'm doing a lot better this week, with my eyes on this coming January. Even as soon as November or December, we'll probably start packing some things, so that will be a great milestone. Really nothing changed while I was gone. I'm just that much closer to finishing this tour.