Winding Down

We're finally hitting that point in my husband's deployment where the end is starting to come into sight.  I have to say, I'm more than excited about his return home, as I'm sure you can all understand.  Last night I had a very real feeling dream in which he was finally back with me again, and in it I didn't want to let go of him.  We're one of those couples who usually holds hands most of the time when we're out walking together, and in my dream I was pretty much attached to his arm, not wanting to leave his side.  After all of the time we've spent apart over this last year, I'm fairly sure I will actually be like that when he returns and we're finally together for an extended period of time, at least for the first couple weeks or so back together.

We know his estimated return time-frame based on when he left and the number of days the deployment is set to last, but currently he hasn't been told any date as far as when they're definitely going to try and get him out of there (not that I could share it if I knew in respect of OPSEC).  And knowing how many attempts it took for him to get in, "boots on the ground" and all to officially begin the deployment, I wouldn't be surprised if it takes several days from when they say he's coming home to actually get him out of there depending on weather & safety conditions.

With the deployment quickly coming to an end, that also means that my time at my job is nearing an end as well since we'll finally be PCSing after hubby returns.  Starting today, I'm beginning the process at work of passing on many of my duties and training my co-workers on how to do many of the things I'm currently responsible for.  Because of the way things tend to work at the university, replacements for positions typically cannot be hired until after the incumbent has left the position, so I will not be able to actually train my replacement and have to teach/refresh people who currently work in my office well enough so that they will then be able to train my replacement when he/she is eventually hired.

One of the biggest items I'm passing on are my payroll & personnel duties.  Right after I began working in my current office, we switched over to a new payroll system for all of our hourly employees, so no one else here (not even our business manager who trained me on our old payroll system) truly knows all of the ins and outs on how to use the system.  Even though I still have several more weeks left at my job, I'm starting that training process now in order to give the guy who is taking over that aspect of my job a few pay periods of experience using the system before I leave so I'm easily accessible for any questions he may have.

I have a feeling that during my last two or three weeks here, my days at work are going to be pretty long and boring, as at that point I will have passed on pretty much everything I do on a daily basis.  But I know I will certainly be able to fill much of that time with continuing my house & job hunting searches.  Plus I'm sure I'll be making daily lists of things to do to prep for the move/hubby's homecoming.  One thing's for certain, I'll most definitely be bouncing off the walls of my office with excitement over my husband coming home!