On our own. Again.

Here I sit, at 11pm on a Sunday night. I should be asleep already but Brian left today and my mind is racing, trying to figure out *how* I'm going to do 16 weeks this time around instead of just 12!! Especially with what the next 16 weeks have in store!! Our oldest is supposed to be graduating from high school at the end of the 16 weeks. I'm still not sure if he's going to have the grades to do it. He's also "this close" to getting his Eagle Scout award and I can't seem to get any answers as to what he still needs to do for that. Then there's the other 4 children who all have their own issues and challenges.
If you're new to our family, let me introduce us and maybe all of that will make more sense! I'm Jane, my husband is Brian. We've been married for 19 years and have 5 children- 4 of our own and one foster child we hope to adopt this year. Brian has been an electrician for most of our married life and had his own company for 5 years. When the economy took a nose-dive, the business just dried up and left us without work and without income. Brian did small, service jobs for 7 months while looking for something more permanent. That something came in May 2010. He was offered a 6-week job for an obscene amount of money. The only hitch- the job was in Afghanistan. Yep, he took it. It was work and we were/still are grateful for it. That company turned out to be a nightmare to work for and the 6 weeks turned into 12 very long, very stressful weeks. When he finally came home, he spent another 2 months trying to find work closer to home.
Brian was offered a permanent job as a project manager in October 2010. The pay was good, the hours were long and the location was not so close to home. Once again, he went to Afghanistan.
This time, we knew it was for 12 weeks. The schedule is 12 weeks on the job, 3 weeks on leave/holiday/vacation (depends on who you're talking to as to what you call it). Hence the web address for the blog. He works for a British company working on a military base in Afghanistan. Brian works with an array of nationalities- British, Australian, Nepalese, Filipino, Iraqui, American, and I don't know how many others!
I'm left here at home, with 5 children to take care of, in a community that has many, many good things about it but has no clue how to deal with those of us who have spouses that are absent. We're not technically single parents but we are in reality. One neighbor I have freaks out if her husband has to be gone overnight. And there just isn't a whole lot of support at all. Above mentioned neighbor also didn't know Brian was gone last go-around until about 8 weeks into his absence. Anyway............
Because of our oldest son's impending release from the torture of high school, Brian will be extending his time over there so that his holiday coincides with the glorious celebration that is graduation. That's why the 16 weeks instead of the 12. If he came home on the 12 week schedule, he would go back just before graduation. Not such a good idea.
There are lots of good things about Brian's job- #1 being that he has a job!!! We can pay rent, buy groceries, pay the utilities, we'll be completely out of debt by March of next year (including those pesky student loans that have been hanging around our necks like millstones for far too many years!!), we'll be able to save up for a down-payment on property and a house, we'll be completely debt-free, it's a job, we can pay........ oh wait, I'm repeating myself. That's because it's such a huge deal!!! We don't have a LOT of debt. Just some stupid choices I made a few years back. Stupid because I knew at the time it was a bad decision but I decided to do it anyway. Lesson learned, cards cut up, accounts closed, won't EVER happen again.
Well, there it is. The first post with way too many confessions to begin a blog with. :-) I'm not perfect and I'll probably use this blog to complain about things. But where else can I do it??? I'll try to remember to write the good things in life, too.