"Red Letter Days," you know - the ones that are marked in red on the calendar. The weekends, the holidays, the commemorative days. As a Navy wife there certainly are a few red letter days...homecoming is one, a birthday or anniversary actually celebrated together is another.

But then there are those days that are definitely not red-letter days. The day the car broke down, an appointment was missed and your sailor is deployed - not a 'red-letter' day. The day you 'hit the wall' with deployment...you want your Sailor home and you want them home NOW - not a 'red-letter' day. The day both kids are sick, he is deployed and you have the flu - not a 'red-letter' day.

Another non-red-letter day is the day you realize that you have hit the half-way point in sea/shore rotation...that day you have less days together as a 'normal family' than you have behind you and that sea-duty (i.e., another deployment) is fast upon you.

That day is today for me. I am sad, very sad. I love living here; I love my home and my 'adopted city.' I love having my Sailor home for dinner (ok, most nights), I enjoy not worrying about his safety on a regular basis. I love a semblance of 'normalcy'.

But today I realized we are halfway through shore duty. That means we are on our way to striking for orders. That means we will be moving - yet again. That means workups, deployment, elongated time apart...again. That means my marriage will once again be long-distance and part-time at best.

Today is not a red-letter day.

Today is the day I have to decide to be grateful for what I do have. I still have several more months together. I still have my husband coming home for dinner tonight, tomorrow night and the night after that. I can still enjoy my husband and my home.

hmmm...maybe it is a red-letter day afterall...