If only every day would pass as quickly.

Yesterday was a great day. I suppose I'd rank most of this past week as average, maybe slightly above or below.. so I'm always surprised by a particularly good time, and I welcome it with open arms.

I spoke with Sean on the phone in the morning. He's been in touch, and although I know he's going through alot of hardships and seems to only be getting raw deals right now, I do my best to keep his spirits up. Regrettably, that means I can't complain, grieve, or become misty-eyed when we talk. If I'm happy, he has one less thing to worry about.

After we said goodbye, I walked to Star Co. (my local coffee house/place of employment, if you haven't been following along), sat at a shaded table in front, and started knitting away. I've been slacking on the scarf, but I managed to add a good bit of length to it yesterday. It's a great time killer, especially during the long, sticky hours during which my day drags.

The evening rolled around, and it was time to see Iron & Wine. My good friend, Pat, picked me up and we met up with my dearest friend Eden and her boyfriend. Dinner before the show - an Indian food trailer in downtown Austin called G'raj Mahal. Exceptional food, amazing Naan. A few laughs, good times.

Here we are, being pretentious hipsters in ATX. Gotta love Pat's nonprescription specs.

Iron & Wine was beautiful. Calexico opened, and were surprisingly good. I'd never taken a chance to listen to them prior to last night, but I'll be playing them on my iPod later today, I'm sure. I recorded nearly every I&W song on my phone with intentions of creating this live album for Sean. I know he would've liked nothing more than to be sitting next to me, squeezing my hand with my head on his shoulder, witnessing this incredibly intimate performance. This is the closest I can provide to the real thing. The quality on my phone is uncommonly good, so I have a feeling he'll really get a kick out of it.

A good day, indeed.

I send them off.

I haven't made a picture post in a while, so I've taken a few this week with the intent of sharing them with you and with Sean. So, pictures first, words after.

This is a beer my neighbor, Bryan, brought over for me. Him and his girl had gotten a 6-pack of these and just didn't like them at all. He knows I love coffee, and I love beer.. so here it is. I'll admit, it was strange at first.. but after the first one, I really started to enjoy the mix of flavors.


Oh, Elliott. He looks so intense here, but I think he was watching the camera strap as it was dangling. He's getting bigger everyday, my little guy.


This is most of the stuff I got for him at HEB over the weekend. Lots of snacks and drink powders, and instant coffee. I knew he wanted the coffee. He asked me for some specifically, but little did he know that I'd already gotten him some. I pride myself in knowing my husband well.

Well, I uploaded fewer pictures than I thought I would. But you get the gist.

Today went swimmingly for me. It's been one of the best days I've had since Sean left. I walked to Star Co. and talked to my boss. Not only is he going to put me back on the schedule, but he's asked me to create my own 'ideal' schedule and he'll do everything he can to give me exactly what I ask for! I guess he really wanted me to come back, to offer me that kind of choice.

After we worked that out, I hung out there for a couple hours. I drank some coffee and worked on my scarf. It was really refreshing, being outside, out of the house, and doing something productive. I hope to continue to motivate myself like I did today.

After said knitting, I made my way to the post office. 8 lbs of goodies, all in one flat-rate box. I only spent $12.50 sending it out! I came home just in time for the best thunderstorm I've seen in ages. All in all, today has been beautiful. I only expect it to get better, or at least plateau here.

Cup of coffee. Quiet morning.

Leave has begun!

I cannot even begin to articulate how wonderful it has been to stay up late, laze around, and wake up in the mornings next to him. And it seems that, for the time being, the stress, anxiety.. the heavy weight of deployment and work that has been weighing down upon us both has been lifted. Granted, it's only temporary, but this is all worth it.

As I've mentioned, we have a few special days/nights planned. Tonight, we're going to see Mirah! This weekend, we're going to Fredericksburg - an older, German Texas town with alot of history, B&Bs, breweries and German restaurants. On Sunday, we're going to The Melting Pot for the whole 4-course dining experience. Tuesday, I'm taking the rest of my GED exams (I aced the first two, by the by), and we're seeing mewithoutYou that night. After Tuesday, we're probably just doing a few days in Austin. Some hiking, maybe. Aside from that, we'll just be stuck at the hip. I'm appreciating this time for what it really is - our last quality time off together before the deployment.

Sean hates surprises, which is unfortunate because I love to surprise him. Tool is playing in Cedar Park on the 22nd, and Tool happens to be his favorite band. The tickets we looked at when we had originally found out we're way beyond our price range. He was disappointed. He'd even said something akin to 'I feel like we need to do this.' I gave him enough time to accept that we couldn't go, and even almost forget about it. Then I watched him open his laptop one morning to find the tickets I'd found on Craigslist. Needless to say, I've made my husband very, very happy. And we're going to see Tool!

In other news, we are now in season 5 of LOST. And I am rereading the entire Harry Potter series. And one of my best friends from my adolescence has moved to Houston, and I am truly looking forward to giving her a giant hug and spending an entire day catching up over coffee.