For those who follow along here, you may have noticed a theme. Dh has never had a ‘home’ job. Some military member do. Many have trades or positions that don’t require all that many absences. Some who do will have postings for a few years that aren’t deployable to give them a little break. Dh has never had that. Even when he was posted away from his Regiment it was still to a high readiness unit. And he deployed from it frequently, both on missions as well as training exercises. It makes for some impressive Land Duty Allowance, but it’s also made for some years where he was just a passing presence in the home. As a result, whether it’s a year with a 6+ month deployment or a year littered with 5 week exercises and 3 month courses, as a family we are pretty adapted to him not being around. There are fewer tears and a few more laughs when he leaves each time. You’d think it was all routine and I’d barely notice. You’d think, but that’s not how this works. I AM used to the stuff.  A 17 year career in the combat arms means an accumulation of green that is staggering. 2 pairs of desert boots per deployment makes for quite the collection. There are a good half dozen barrack boxes and depending when you catch him there’s a chance the pool table is a draying rack for layers of sleeping bags and liners. There are ranger blankets everywhere. The cot and the rucksack and the dufflebags big enough that I can fit inside. And that’s just the big items, those are usually…