The first month is officially over.

I finally washed the sheets. I can't bring myself to wash his pillow case though.

Charlie got to choose from some of the last open slots for R&R, so he'll be home early next year and then will go back for another 7-8 months. We would have preferred a later slot so that we were on the downhill slope after he left, but we'll survive.

We had initially planned to meet in Europe but I don't think either of us are thrilled about Europe in the winter, let alone me trying to pack winter clothes and such for two and travel alone with all of that. I thought maybe we could do Edelweiss in Germany but they don't have any availability during his R&R, of course. It's also apparently a prime time for the Caribbean, so the cheapest I'm finding is $2k for lodging/meals only for a week. We're looking at maybe a cruise or staying in some military lodging in CA. I really would love to go to Hawaii but he'll lose almost a full day of his leave in travel so we're very hesitant to do that. If anyone has other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

I'm off to enjoy some organic pizza and a glass of wine. I spent most of the day editing and am ready to just chill.