Oh Field Training

It is FTX (field training) season meaning that units are gone for days or weeks at a time. Our time came last week and honestly I took it harder than I thought I would. James was only gone for a week but the day before he left and the first day he was gone were hard for me. Who would have thought?

I wasn’t expecting to be upset because well, I got through 8 months of deployment. 8 months of being apart, of dealing with everything on my own, etc. So a week? No problem. Until I realized the morning before he left that I wouldn’t really see him – between work and my night class that day meant when I got home we’d go right to bed. And in the morning he’d wake up at the crack of dawn to go for the week.

I know, I sound a bit dramatic. And that’s not my favorite thing to do, but anytime apart can be hard. I missed the little things, like: watching Parks & Rec after dinner (we’re almost caught up with the current season), laughing together, cooking up something delicious, and just hanging out. I also realized that I needed to deal with the lawn. Aka learning to use our lawn mower.

But it’s work so what can I do? Nothing. Continue moving forward with life.I made plans with friends over the weekend. Did some shopping. Worked our community yard sale (made a bit of money! then spent it…). Started a paper for my summer class. Blogged (!!!) and caught up on TV shows he’s not so much a fan of (HGTV Star anyone?). I also started working more hours at my job. And mowed the lawn!

This is how I celebrated figuring out the lawn mower:

Celebratory glass of wine after my first successful lawn mowing.

A post shared by Jessica Hall (@jessicanicolehall) on

Unfortunately thought Murphy’s Law of FTX kicked in though and I also had to deal with:

  • Car problems. Specifically went to drop something off to James (his FTX was not as remote as they can be and he had access to his car), went to park next to his car to leave a few things and did not see a GIANT curb. I hit the undercarriage crazy hard. Some really nice Soldiers were nearby and helped me back out and checked it to see how badly I hurt it. They said just a dent. I’m taking it into an auto repair place just in case but it appears to be cosmetic only.
  • Sunburn. Ok this isn’t that major but I had to take care of the yard sale and the yard and guess who forgot sunscreen? Yep. That would be me. I’ve got a nice red nose to show for it.
  • Minor freak out about home security. Basically I was in a rush to get in the house, prep some food for a potluck, shower and leave. In my hast I had haphazardly put a blueberry pint on the table. As I was leaving I noticed it was a bit open and thought it was odd. Then I put stuff in the car and went to leave. I checked our home security history and swore that someone had come in and out of the house while I was in the shower. I proceeded to freak out and check the entire house, then rechecked the time stamp to realize that it was me coming and going from the car before I left. Needless to say it was ridiculous but scary at the moment.

When he came home we had to adjust to being back together. We were both exhausted from our long weeks of work but got some tasty Chinese food and relaxed together. We spent the weekend being pretty lazy so it was a nice change of pace.

But anytime apart is hard. I was so used to use being together that being apart was a bit of a shock. I guess I was just out of practice in some ways. After years of long distance, this living together thing became so easy, and long distance was hard yet again, well, as it always is. And in a few months we will be doing it again for longer field exercises…yayyyyyy (not).

Anyone else experience similar feelings for a short time apart? How did you do with your time apart after being together for awhile again?

3 Replies to “Oh Field Training”

  1. Haha, I actually did this last week when Tom wanted to camp out at a friend’s house for the night. It was only one night! I spend my time mostly watching T.V shows that Tom has no interest in or will ruin with his commentary.

  2. I know how you feel! Chris and I are pros at being apart! Then last week he had one freaking CQ 24 hour shift. I couldn’t sleep and was so sad during dinner. I felt like such a wimp! For the first few weeks in WA this living situation felt so temporary and foreign, so I guess it’s a good thing that I’m allowing myself to get used to living with him.

  3. My husband and I have been through 2 deployments, but every time he leaves I miss him so much. I always think that I shouldn’t miss him, or that I won’t miss him, since we have been through much longer separations, but regardless of how long he is gone I miss him tons!

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