One too many countdowns

When I was getting my massage on Saturday, I realized I had managed to forget a pretty big milestone. With all the countdowns and count-ups I'm doing right now, it makes sense that I'd manage to miss one. I just was surprised at the one I chose to miss.

I knew that last Thursday marked four months of this deployment, which means that we have under 11 to go.

I knew that last Sunday was a year from the day K and I got engaged day-wise. Date-wise, it's today.

I knew that the beginning of April would mean it's now five months until we get to see each other for K's R&R.

I knew that on March 22nd, Piper was officially 10 months old, which means that she's got two months left until she's a year old (and that big date comes two days before what was supposed to have been our wedding, before the deployment -- and then the Florida wedding -- entered the picture).

Which brings me to the number that slipped my mind: six.

On Saturday, March 29, it occurred to me that exactly one week before had been the six-month marker of K's and my wedding. And I forgot. I wanted to cry when I realized it.

I know, though, that I'd never forget our actual anniversary. Six months is a big marker, but it's not the same as reaching a year. It would have been one thing if we were living together or could see each other (heck, even talk on the phone!) to enjoy the fact we passed that mark. But honestly, when looking at all the other countdowns (and count-ups) above, that one really just seems a bit minor right now.

One thing that makes that count-up seem a bit more exciting is that six months from now when we reach our actual anniversary, K will be home on R&R. Just like the six-month anniversary, there won't be any emails or phone calls mentioning the importance of the date. We won't need either of them, though, because for that important milestone, we'll be together.