The world makes sense again!

I found it difficult last night to fall asleep. Different "what if" scenarios kept running through my head, and somehow I knew I just had to come up with an alternative to the alternative. I thought, if they tell me my request got denied, I would just re-appeal it. But what if the appeal gets denied too? If it took about two months for the initial request to be processed, and it takes 2 months to get the appeal processed, and it gets denied again... would that mean I would be gone by Christmas? Would it mean I would have to miss Ethan's first birthday? His first word? His first steps?

Mike let me cry for a while, but he just kept repeating, It'll all be okay, I promise. He meant well I'm sure... but I thought, how could anyone promise something they don't have any control over? I wish I could've tried harder to be more optimistic.

I must've called the headquarters about 10 times this morning before I finally got someone besides a voicemail. I was so nervous I thought I was gonna puke. I told the man who answered that I was returning a call about the decision on my packet, and he put me on hold for what seemed like forever while he rustled through some papers. Finally, he came back on, and told me the most beautiful sentence I've heard in a long time.

Your request has been approved.

APPROVED. That means I don't have to go anywhere. I won't have to leave Mike. I won't have to leave Ethan. I won't have to miss any goodnights or christmases or birthdays. I won't have to fight a war halfway across the world.

He also said my orders will be revoked and that I would be put on "standby" until they re-evaluate my case August 25th of NEXT year. I could care less about that, because by April 25, 2007, I'll be officially done with my 8 year contract and they can't touch me anymore. And I'm not sad to say, that I'll never be putting this uniform on ever again.