The best way for me to deal with this deployment is to keep myself as busy as possible. I tried living through a nice quiet relaxing weekend, but unfortunately with 2 small children that is virtually impossible. I will lose my mind. So instead, I keep busy. The week is easier to fill up since Lola is in daycare, so I either lug Thomas around with me, or plunk him into the base daycare if I need to be hands free.

That being said, by keeping myself so busy, I realize I'm neglecting my one on one friend time. And because I don't have time to keep in touch with everyone, I feel myself not keeping in touch with anyone. And I hate that. I'm not the only one with a busy life, and it's increasingly difficult to schedule in phone calls between kids, and jobs and sleep. So me starting up the ole' blog again is a way to keep everyone informed on our life here in the QC.

It'll do me some good to be able to write stuff out, especially if I'm feeling down. I need to get it out, and sometimes throwing it on a blog is easier than relating it to a friend. Weird, I know, but it's how my brain works these days.

I've been super busy with my volunteering these days. Lots of Christmas activities being planned, and lots of fun stuff for the kidlets too.

This weekend is the volunteer Christmas party. It's a pyjama party theme, so I'll be wearing a one piece zebra fleece jammy, with red heels .... and slippers as back up. It's going to be a fun night. We have a catered buffet, then an interactive dj. I have a sitter and a ride. I'm set.

The kids and I will also be attending a Family Christmas brunch on Sunday morning. Santa makes an appearance, so Lola will go bananas. So many people have big inflatable bonhommes on their lawns here, so every morning she points out the Santas, Snowmen and Penguins. I took her and Thomas to see the mall Santa last weekend and she loved it. Very excited. Christmas morning is going to be so much fun this year! Cookies and milk, and a carrot for Rudolph.

I've also applied to go on a "mission" to Sweden as part of an exchange between their military and the Valcartier base. I met all the requirements, and the best part is that all the presentations will be given in English. I thought a lot of people were going to apply, but apparently the language barrier was a huge obstacle for most of the volunteers at the centre. There are 5 of us who applied, so they will be interviewing all 5 of us. All the interviews will be NEXT Wednesday. Within the excited craziness of this week I thought the interview was today. Thankfully I found out yesterday, and didn't waltz in there today ready to giv'er! The interviews will mainly focus on our involvement with the centre, and logistics - ie: kids? I'm formulating my positive spin on the fact that I'm a solo mom until July. There will be lots of meetings leading up to the "mission" which takes place April 12-19, so I understand their concern for someone in my position. But I'm not the only one, and I can make this work. That is the only strike against me.

One of my volunteer committees coordinated a photo display of military families from a photo session we organized in September, and today we had a little unveiling ceremony. It was married with the family center's 20th anniversary, and they had a few media attend. I volunteered to give a bit of a speech as a testimonial of a military spouse, and that was the best decision I have made in a long time. It was great exposure to the Sweden selection panel I'll be interviewing with next week. They were able to see me in action today. I looked great, and my French speech was pretty freaking good. So that'll be a bonus for sure. But I also impressed the centre's PR guy (Agent de liaison et d'information). So much so that I'm now his go-to person for media interviews looking to speak to a military spouse. I did 3 newspaper interviews this week. I made sure to let him know that I was applying for Sweden, and asked him to be a reference. Score.

Let me tell you, I needed this little esteem and morale boost. Again, I keep my days pretty busy, so I don't have time to be sad. But sometimes the sad creeps in. Usually when I'm completely by myself. In the car with no kids, or at the house with no kids. If I'm at the centre or running errands with the kids, I'm focused on other stuff. But when my guard comes down a teeny tiny bit I let myself feel what I need to feel. As much as it sucks, it's important to get it over with. Because the feelings will just stay there until you deal with them. So I've had a few sad moments, and Mike and I have been having a difficult time connecting via phone. It's tough figuring out a time when we are both free to talk. He's 9.5 hours ahead of me. Before he left we decided we would email every day, but space out the phone calls. I much prefer that system. That way when we talk we actually have stuff to say, and it's not inane chit chat. But this past week I wanted to talk to him everyday to share the excitement of the good stuff rolling in, but we haven't been able to make it happen.

That being said, he'll be calling me at 9pm tonight (6:30am tomorrow his time). I'm usually in bed by now, but I'm anxious to talk to him.

I also bought the new GBS cd (XX), which is a greatest hits album with some new songs. 2 discs, 1 is pop songs, and 1 is more folky. And listening to it just makes me happy. There's a new song that just puts me in a great mood the second I hear the first few notes. It's great! I know, I know - stop rolling your eyes! It's frommage, but it's true.

I've also started my work-work too. Slowly but surely Robin and I are figuring things out. But I'm now set up with a company email address, and I've done a few hours here and there. I'm dropping one of my volunteer committees in January, so I'll have more time to focus on this job. And come the New Year we'll have set up a seamless system I'm sure. It's admin work for a marketing company that I can do based on my schedule. It's perfect for me.

So I guess that's it in a nutshell. I'll be updating this blog as often as I can. If the mood strikes, or if there is something exciting going on around here. Please please PLEASE don't stop texting/calling/emailing/facebooking me about the ins and outs of your lives mkay??? This is just the easiest way to keep everyone in the loop.

Lots of love from the QC, and we'll be Ottawa-bound December 15th!!