Pre-deployment Ick

Hubby is off at Fort Irwin for training, and I am sad and lonely. I am finding myself far more alone than I some how thought I would feel. The thought of being here in this strange place, in a house that doesn't feel like mine yet, during freezing cold temperatures and who-knows-what else is starting to get really scary. To be bluntly honest, I don't know if I can do this. I know that I will. One awful day at a time if I have to, but I am terrified.
The house is so quiet. Even with the radio or the TV on, it's still deathly quiet with out him here.
I know he's not gone yet... that he will be home in a couple of weeks and we will have one more month together before they ship him off to the other side of the world. But this foretaste is far more intimidating than I imagined it would be. Somehow I thought I would be stronger than this.
It could be this big move. I never transition easily. I am NOT one of those Army wives who lives for the adventure or who gets "antsy" every 2 years for something new. I HATE moving. I have hated it my whole life. The older I get the more I dislike it. I can't wait to settle down somewhere and never move farther than the other side of town again! Those first few months of not knowing anyone and feeling like a complete alien are torture for me. I'm still in that phase now.
Every locale has its own way of driving, it's own traditions, it's own style of interacting with strangers. For me it's like being on a new planet where they think I'm the weirdo and I just can't seem to grasp what the heck they are doing.
Personally, I just don't get Alaska! They drive painfully slow even in perfect weather (as if the 9 months of ice paved roads is still engraved in their brains), they play baseball at midnight in the summer, they forgo summer sleep just because the sun is still up, they think 75 degrees is hot, and they can be very "abrasive" in dealing with you. They say it like it is and don't hold back. Of course, you are by no means supposed to take offense with their gruffness. They don't mean any harm, it's just how they feel! "Common courtesy" as I know it, is seeing as being "sweet". They look at you like you are being all gooey sugary just for saying please and thank you.
Even the housing market here is strange. Rooms are generally smaller. Older builds are more common, and renovating is not huge. The strangest thing of all? You can have a beautiful $400,000 home right next to a wooden shack, and nobody seems to care! I just DON'T get it.
In closing? I want to go home. I REALLY want to go home! But after moving 14 times in 23 years, I have no clue where home is! Home is with my husband. In his arms as I fall asleep, but he's far away, and about to be for a very long time.

*heavy sigh*

I can do this, right? Some how, I will make it through the next 13 or so months and life will continue. I just pray that I will somehow be able to do more than just survive. I hate to think of wasting a year of my life just "waiting".

Borax

I have a new fabulous find! I love Borax. Yes, Borax. It comes in a powder, all boxed up much like powdered milk. Except, I REALLY don't advise you drink it the same way!!! (It's not toxic however...) It softens the hard water in my laundry and dishwasher, cleans soap scum for a shine you will have to see to believe, and TODAY... I used it to lift the coffee spill kindly provided by my dear doggie, Esther. Per the directions, I blotted the spill out of my carpet as much as I could, then sprinkled the borax over the spill. Any moisture remaining was brought right up and soaked up by the borax! Brilliant! It even found a few drops I had missed in my blotting. Now all I have to do is wait for the damp powder to dry and vacuum with my beloved Kirby Sentria. I'll let you know if there is any color residue.
By the way... the water here? HARD!!! Full of minerals, iron, calcium, manganese, and arsenic (in some areas). I have a Brita water filter on our faucet, but it still doesn't catch the high calcium content completely. I get little droplet marks on top of my coffee maker after I pour in my filtered water. Sigh.... oh well. This is only temporary, right?