Ryan graduates from combat school on Tuesday. He got through his 72-hour crucible OK. He said it was cold, but the hardest part after a lot of hiking and physical exertion at the beginning was staying awake that long. That's 3 days! Since it was war-game like, it was nice to hear that he didn't get "killed."

Next. He doesn't start intelligence school until June 1st. The coming month will be guard duty on base. He says it is 20-hour work days. I keep telling myself that has to be wrong. He didn't know if he would get weekends--and a month of 4 hours sleep a night sounds awful--and I thought he was going to be past the hard part. We both agreed that might not ever be the case.

I've asked myself why blogging has been so sporadic the past year--and I really think it is because my mind and heart have been consumed with my "little" ones so far from home. I mean college is a piece of cake. Missions and military have commanded my focus ... whether it should be that way, or not.

Something inside me says, "Get used to it."