Lost and found

Well another week has gone by and I am that one week closer to seeing my husband again. I am now fully established into my daily and weekly routine. The only non-routine stuff are Shaun's phone calls. He tries to call twice a week if at all possible but we never know when that might be. It is usually at some ungodly hour for him like 1 am his time. He is working very hard and really long hours and if he has time then the phones are usually busy with long waiting lines. Unlike last time when he was in a huge camp with huge infrastructure, this time around it is back to basics. Apparently he tries to run around the edges of the camp - circles of 300 meters would drive me mad. But he is stronger and better than me at that.

Last weekend I went for a weekend away with 3 other army wives and one of the husbands, army officer who has stayed behind (he came back from his deployment fairly recently though). Us, the "army wives" are running a trailwalker race in July (run/walk/crawl of 100 km along the coast of Britain) so this was our first training/bonding weekend. For me it was good, because I ended up doing my long run with other people - so much more fun. Although I have to admit, I couldn't do it very often.

We stayed the Saturday night in B&B and back home on Sunday, after the long run. When I got home I couldn't find my watch anywhere. I took it off that morning to put my Garmin on and thought I'd put it in my rucksack. But couldn't find it anywhere. I LOVE that watch. It is expensive but that was not the point, the insurance would probably pay for it. Far more importantly, it was Shaun's wedding anniversary present 5 years ago. I was completely devastated. I asked all the ladies but they haven't seen it anywhere. We searched the car but nothing. On Monday morning I decided to phone the B&B to check whether they had it, although I was fairly certain that it just fell out my bag somewhere. So I called them and BINGO! They have it. I was soooooo happy. I hope to drive down tonight after work to pick it up. I just can't wait to see it back on my wrist. I really ought to be more careful from now on.
I am leaving you with the photo of "Girkha Girls" (the name of the team) post-run.
I look like a giant - must be uphill :(

There are so many things wondering in my head so I suspect this blog post will be quite random.

I have been invited to a dinner by one of the Army wives tonight. Most of the other wives are going but I said "No". I have masters swim practice and I did not want to miss it. I didn't really say that to her as there is no doubt they would all think I was completely mad and got my priorities wrong. But after all, that was the only reason for it. If it wasn't for the masters practice (or any other training session) I would have gone. Perhaps I am mad. But I am proud of myself (maybe wrongly, you can be the judge of that) for saying "No". I do have a problem in that more often than not I would agree to doing something even though it completely messes up my plans and my life. Then the even comes near and all I think is why in the first place did I agree to go there or do that. Anyway, I am on the right track and I need to be more disciplined in saying NO.

On a slightly different note, I have had a first phone call over the weekend informing me of the first injured soldier in Shaun's unit. It was a case of improvised explosive device and the poor soldier has lost both of his legs. It is impossible to say how I felt but all I wanted to do was cry. Not sure whether it was because I was feeling sorry for him, or because it brought it all close to home or whether I was feeling sorry for myself and having to deal with these sort of news for the next six months. But what I do know is that I shouldn't think about these things because they will drive me completely mad.

But on a more positive note the training is going well in spite of some long hours at work. I am loving the training at the moment and the little routine I have created for myself. And so I am leaving you with couple of photos from my most favourite long run route. Miles and miles of trees, water and nothing else.

Italy and other things

My trip to Italy went well. We did a fair bit of work and had meetings in Padova, Venice, Treviso, Vicenca, Verona and Milan. So most of it was work and work but we also had some time to relax. I've seen this:



Vicenza was small but lovely too



But mostly I did a lot of this:




On a not so good note, I missed two calls from Shaun whilst I was in Italy and I was getting very upset with the fact that I have not spoken with him. Once back home I became inseparable from my phone until he called on Saturday :)))) I was much much happier after that. We are still trying to get into some sort of routine as to our communication but we are getting there slowly. I am trying to spend as little time as possible living the "Army life" because when I do I tend to loose any sense of reality. It is a very different life and I very often get into phases where I do not like spending any time with the other army wives.

Anyway, we've had some nice weather but the mornings and nights are still very very cold. I really need the spring/summer to arrive SOON.

Today's run

I had a trail run on my plan today and I knew perfect place. On the top of the cliffs overlooking the English channel. And the rain we had last few days made sure it was slow and muddy.






The steps going down (they were muddy and I was sliding most of the time)



What goes down WILL go up. Ouch!








Hope you all have a lovely day today. Happy Easter!

April

Wow, has it been this long since the last time I blogged. Where does this time go? But believe me not much has happened and you haven't really missed anything.

I had a week off work and we went to see both sets of parents (what a lovely kids we are :))). We first went to Belgrade where the weather was lovely. It was Shaun's and mine first run of the year in short and t-shirt. That made me really happy... the little things, eh. Then back to the UK and to Wales to see Shaun's family. That was a rather flying visit. Unfortunately I am now back at work. I always find it so hard going back to work after few days of holiday.

Shaun is deploying in the early hours of Saturday. I cannot believe that time for him to go is already here. I find the last couple of weeks always particularly hard - he is not gone yet but I am waiting for it to happen, so I can't really do anything properly. It is almost like waiting for him to go so that I can get back into my routine. But at the same time I do not want him to go. Ugh...

We have had a pretty bad weather here in the UK this week. Rain, wind, cold, I mean it is April for God's sake. Where is that sunshine. It is officially spring but it certainly doesn't seem like it. The good news is that on Monday I am going on a business trip to Italy for a whole of next week. I fly into Venice and out of Milan but I will also be having meetings in Treviso, Vicenza and Verona. Unfortunately it will mess up my training a little but at least I can go for a run.

We in the UK have a Friday (tomorrow) and Monday as bank holidays so the long weekend awaits. I wish I could say that some sunshine awaits too but there are some parts of the UK in snow right now. Oh Italy, I cannot wait.