Well, once again, it's been a while since I wrote. I've been a real busy camper lately, what can I say. I have been trying to get my personal life as well as my duties on the ship ready for WestPac. WestPac is the big cruise that the ship goes out on... a six month cruise to be exact.

Problem with this is I'm having kind of a hard time getting motivated to be excited about this major thing coming up. I am going to be gone for half a year, and that's a big chunk if you think about it. I once heard the Chaplin at one of our church services tell us that he thought that the main reason people didn't like going on WestPac was fear of change, and I think he hit the nail on the head with that one. As it approaches, I am getting more and more nervous. All I can think about is how much it is going to change here in America while I am gone. But that's not all, I also think that being out of the country for six months is going to change me. I am going to see all these things that I probably never imagined. Once this would have gotten me excited. I guess I'm finally growing up and wanting some stability in my life. While I'm in the Navy, this is something I can't have though.

What are some of the good things about this WestPac journey though? Well, for one, I get to go see all of these foreign countries for free. Have a chance to see some things many will never have a chance to see in their life... and probably from a different perspective. Let's face it, people view people in the military differently than they view tourists. I haven't gone much of anywhere, and this is something that I have already noticed. Not just in foreign locations, but a lot at home too. You tell someone you are in the military, and they immediately start seeing you differently. I wish that this different viewing was for the better, but it's not. I don't know what it is, but just because I work for Uncle Sam... some people look down on that. It's not like I make all the choices of where we go, who we are fighting and all of that. Personally, I think that we should keep our nose out of a lot of this.

I know that toward the beginning I said that I was going to try to keep my personal life and military life separate, especially on this page, but I have found that in this circumstance, my personal life has just completely blended together with my military life. Things should return to normal when I return.

Of course, I can't talk about much more on this subject. When we are leaving and coming back, where we are going and when, all of that I cannot tell until after I have been there and done it. If word were to get out, they could delay things, and even cancel some of the stops that we are going to be porting at... so you'll just have to watch the military page for that info.

I can't say much else is going on though. I have been spending the last few weeks trying to get ready for this. Imagine all of things that you would have to take care of before leaving the country for six months. Bills, payments, just getting things in order, what to take with you and what can stay behind, as well as getting ready for that point where you won't be talking to friends or loved ones at all while you are gone, unless you are rich and have the money to make the over a dollar a minute phone calls. Another things that I don't like. But like I said, I'm trying to get motivated. It's great that I am going to be seeing all these different things, and maybe even able to buy some pretty cool things while I am out.

Well, unfortunately, that's about all for now. Hopefully, I will find time to make plenty of journal entries while I am out... thing is, most of them might go in the Navy portion after I leave ports. There really isn't much I can talk about while I'm stuck out on the boat in the middle of the ocean, but you never know.