whose texture compels me with the colour of its countries, rendering death and forever with each breathing (e.e. cummings)

That's right, we still don't know any details. It's become pretty frustrating. At this point, we're waiting for John's recruiter to get in touch with a specific Sgt. Major to schedule a time to meet with him. Then that Sgt. Major will make an appointment with the General for him. >;-P But, I'm still not packed very much, so I don't know why I'm so frustrated... I guess it is just hard to pack for an unknown destination. I guess I'll just pack everything but clothes for now and then when we get any idea about climate I'll rush to pack the clothing accordingly. Oi. This transitional limbo is just making us a little ill from all the floating around. ;)
Speaking of which, one thing everyone has found necessary to bring up when we mention our decision is that John could end up in Afghanistan. No offense to these people, but: duh. If I weren't okay with the possibility of deployment, I wouldn't have let him join the Guard in the first place. It will just happen more frequently now. But, there are 2 things I know: I am strong enough to be alone while he is away and he is a very strong soldier that will do well in his deployments. Of course he could die. But, I've been dealing with that since he became a driver. The path we've chosen will give us a better life. I mean, he knows what he wants to do, he loves it, he's good at it, and he can have a career in it that will help us out. So few people ever have that and now that Johnny's found it, I'm just handing it to him and telling him to run with it. Besides, I really should have known when we were opening our wedding gifts and he explained to me what a useful weapon our citrus juicer could be. ;) (He was born this way.)
And the great thing is that wherever we go, we'll be together in our world. John has the ability to make everything melt away. We've joked around, calling him living Prozac. It's true, though. Sometimes people will become very attached to him because of it. They start needing him to the point that instead of becoming stronger, as they had up to that point, it starts crippling them and him. This has happened a few times since we got married, and I'll watch it wear on him and siphon his energy and joy away as he tries to hold this other person up. So, I've gotten so I can untangle the problem, or if needed snap it off, to give him back his life. It can hurt that person, but I've found sometimes you have to hurt something to help it. I have to be strong enough to push it out of the nest so it can realize it can fly. Because it's like being around him can alter reality as if he were an addicting drug. He doesn't mean to be, he just has a gift.
I got so I could control the effect on me back in high school when I found myself leaning on him too much (I had to stop holding so tight and learn to stand alone again back then), and when we get to have some time together, I'll let the reality wash away and the vibrant colors of that world seep over this tan and gray present and it's just like being little kids. We tell stories and play games and our imaginations become so healthy. =) I've written about that world before on here but, now that we're so close to leaving everything familiar behind, I've realized just how important it is. So, we're trying to nourish it just a little every day. It can be frozen yogurt together or an awesome movie or reading a book aloud or talking about chemistry or history. It amazes me, the castles that love can build inside of us. We can meet there even when we're apart. And I realize now, that all the colors covering that world are shades of God that he shares with us. Perhaps that is our pocket of heaven that waits. :)