Phase two of deployment

Or are we in stage three? I'm not sure I can even keep track of each stage of this deployment (Do I count California as stage one?).

Anyways, Sam called me yesterday morning from the wonderful country of Germany. He didn't actually tell me he was leaving for Germany on Tuesday, but I figured it out by his long good-bye on the phone (the last time we could talk on our cell phones) and by the way he evaded every single one of my questions (questions I usually asked him like, "What are you doing today? Where are you?"--when hearing strange background noises). Needless to say, I was quite down this week and still am a little bit when I think about it.

I don't know why his flying to Germany makes me sadder than before. I'm not sure if it's because I can't just text him whenever I want to tell him something quick or if it's because he's even further away than before. Part of me believes I should be happier because Germany is the final training place before Kosovo and it means that the deployment is that much closer to being over. Perhaps I'm just being pregnantly hormonal and weepy.

Sam's job has changed since he first left. Before he was an Officer in Charge of a Land Team, meaning that he was supposed to go out into the communities with three or four other soldiers and meet with locals making sure things were getting done. He was so excited about this job because it meant that he was actually out doing things. When Sam was in Iraq he only got to go outside of the wire a handful of times (which I was perfectly okay with) on convoys so he felt like he wasn't really doing anything. On Sam's birthday he was told by his commander that because he was doing such a great job leading they were moving him off of his current assignment and making him the Officer in Charge of the Staff. Which means that Sam will be in the office from 8-5 every day working on things behind the scenes, not out in the community.

He was then handed a slide show and was told that he needed to brief the General in 10 minutes.

Poor Sam. It's a job promotion, which is kind of cool--especially because it means that Sam is being a rock star, but in the Army a promotion like that means nothing with pay raises, just responsibility. Sam's mad because he wanted to be out and about, not stuck behind a desk.

So, that's a Sam update. He's currently in Hohenfelde, Germany but won't be there long enough to really receive mail so I don't have an address for him. I told him to call his parents before he went overseas, but I don't know if he did that either.

Please keep praying for our family. I am still functioning okay but sometimes really have to force myself to stay positive. Thanks!