Time Flies...Like a Penguin

Hey, ladies! So, it occurred to me that I will be seeing my sailor graduate exactly three weeks from today. I am consciously choosing to see that at as a reasonable amount of time, as opposed to an insurmountable, vortex of long-term despair. For all of you ladies who are counting down the seconds until your love returns, I would like to share some of my mental techniques for making the time go by. I find I have to trick myself into believing that his return is not so far off, lest I abandon all of hope of happiness and staple a picture of his face to a body pillow. (For the record, that is not one of my techniques. It is weird. Very weird. Please, don't.)

-Keep busy. For great advice on this, refer to the first post of this blog. Seriously, this whole blog is gold. Don't just read one post. You know, what? Go and read that first post now. I'll wait.........

-Use milestones to keep sane. Find something that is only a week or two away that you're really looking forward to, then don't think about your man's return date. If your must, create something fun, like a shopping trip or a movie date with friends. Focus on the excitement close at hand. Once that day comes and goes, pick something else a week or so away. Repeat until the big day is so close you can taste it. If you're unsure, it tastes like victory...which tastes a lot like cheese.

-Change your calendar to the month of his return and convince yourself that you're just in a very long month. If you make a comment about it being March and someone tries to correct you and tell you it's only February, give them a good, hard slap and tell them to let you have your feelings. Follow that with some tears and a dramatic exit. That will teach them not to interfere with your coping techniques.

-Get cryogenically frozen until he gets back.

-Go to the grocery store. Pick up a dozen frozen turkeys and the fixings with which to cook them if you do not already have them. While you're there, get some Nyquil. When you return home, prepare and eat all twelve turkeys, chasing each bite with Nyquil, until your arm can no longer lift the turkey to your face. Hibernate.

As a bonus, in the time it took you to read this post, whole minutes have been shaved off the time until you see your sailor again. To continue getting all that time out of the way, feel free to read this post repeatedly. Come back soon to waste more time...I mean, get advice and laugh a little. Hang in there, friends!