Rewind, please . . .

So for those of you who might be reading for the first time, I'm guessing that first post might have left you going "Huh? Who the heck is this chick and why is she writing?"

I find blogging to be a very interesting form of writing. It's random strings of thought put down for all the world to see. Some of us are very good at stringing this randomness into something entertaining and captivating . . . some of us are not. It's a format my father-in-law is not the biggest fan of. He's a traditional writer: make an outline, sketch out the plot, fill in the story, edit the hell out of it. So blogging isn't really his thing, as even the best blogging tends to lead to a little "huh?" sometimes.

So for those of you who don't know the history, here is the condensed version. The future Mrs. Chako (that's me, by the way, except I don't know it yet) meets Dr. Chako . . . Dr. Chako takes a long time to ask her out . . . they eventually get married . . . have two kids . . . he starts a blog about poker and life . . . she spends her time taking pokes at him in the blog comment section (their life and love is a constant friendly competition). Almost one month ago, Dr. Chako hugged and kissed everyone at the airport, picked up two rucksacks, and headed off to the big sandbox across the ocean.

Temporarily husbandless, I started posting on his blog, keeping his loyal readers up to date. He's on the ground in Iraq now and up and posting at his own blog again, so I figured I'd turn the reins back over to him. But I've gotten attached to this forum - keeps my mind off raising two kids by myself while trying to manage a career and household. Now you can join my random musings . . . see how well I hold it together while he serves our country well.

So maybe I'll acquire a few readers, a few friends, and a few ideas for how to keep from going crazy without my other half. Feel free to share your thoughts in my comments anytime.

A special plug to all those other military spouses who are sharing this deployment experience with me - the deployment is a hard gig, but this keeping the home fires burning gig isn't exactly a piece of cake - may your loved ones be safe and come home to you soon.

As my 10-year old says . . . . "Peace out."

Respectfully submitted,

The Wife