What's in the box?

This came to my house the other day while I was at work. I called the Green Giant and asked him if anything should be arriving with my name on it and he said yes, that was his present to me. Good thing I asked, because I SO would have torn that thing open had it been from anyone else. I've been going bonkers wondering what it is, but I'm committed to the surprise, so I'm not even turning it around. I'm not even allowed to look at the return address (which is why it's in my cousin's bedroom, facing away)...and it's completely lost on me what it could be. He had told me that he was having a hard time figuring out what to get me, but my cousin figured out what it was through the return address and said I'm going to love it and that I won't in a million years guess what it is. For the record, I could probably fit in this box. I'll take a picture to prove it once I get the box open.

He gets here in about 70 1/2 hours, so I'm going to be wondering in the meantime. No, it's not heavy enough to contain a transmission. I did tell him NOT to go all out for me because I would feel really bad about my gift to him, which wouldn't compare to anything huge. And then me feeling bad would make me cranky, and he does not want a cranky Mollypants.

I mentioned this in my other post, but I may be a bit out of commission come New Years Day. He and I are going to a wedding in Fredericksburg, Virginia (outside DC) and are driving up via (reliable) rental car and stopping to go skiing in Wintergreen, Virginia. Should be fun, I learned to ski there when I was like 6 years old and haven't been in a number of years. Since he also has a few unused AirTran credits, he's going to come see me again in February, and then in March, we're going to....TEXAS. Yep, I finally get to go. We're going to fly into Houston and then go stay with some friends of his in Austin and check out South by Southwest. SXSW, for those of you who don't know, is a really cool independent film and music festival that Austin puts on that I'm absolutely super-pumped to go see. While badges to go to the festivals are insanely expensive, we did find out that you can go pick and choose which shows to go see for $30 or less each at the door. Much more my speed - I think I'm too old to go see 50 bands a day for a week like in the old days of Music Midtown and Lollapalooza. My old roommate went to Bonarroo or whatever that thing is out in the sticks of Tennessee last year and all I could think was that I was glad I wasn't going. Don't get me wrong, from her pictures she looked like she had a blast, but I'd have been that cranky, sunburned, sweaty and wanting-a-shower girl who would have been Debbie Downer. Thankfully, the green giant shares my affinity for the pay-as-we-go plan and we can see other parts of the city while we're at it.

So, you ask, why all the planning? Well, as I said, he had some free vouchers that he had to book by Christmas Eve, but we're also planning it because...as some of you know...he got recalled to the Marines to get deployed. He finishes up work in March, has all of April off, and then has to report to Camp LeJeune, North Carolina in May. I know, my luck, right? And didn't I swear off men who could possibly get deployed? Yeah, best laid plans...but seriously, he's not exactly the military type, despite being a pretty well-decorated officer. He's probably the most laid-back military guy I've ever met. And there's a few positive points here...

1. He trains for 5 months in North Carolina, which is closer than he is now. We can easily see each other on weekends, we just won't have that lovely ability to both work from my house when he comes to see me.
2. He's going to live at the beach this summer! Yay!
3. Since he's a logistics officer (that's okay to publish here from what I understand, but tell me if it's not!), he's likely to get a desk job in Iraq...at the very least, the military values him for his mind, first and foremost, and they want him doing the smartkid stuff. Then again, his mom said that the last time he said that, he was in the battle of Fallujah. But if you saw him, you wouldn't want to screw with him either, so he's good in that too. The man is the tallest guy I've ever dated...and y'all know I like 'em TALL.
4. He can only get recalled involuntarily this once. After that, he's done. Don't get me wrong, if he wants to stay in, I'll support him (hey, his friends in the Marines are currently moving to Hawaii, can't say I'd turn that one down), but he seems to be glad to be done after this.
5. His actual deployment tour is only 7 months. Anyone who's been through the Army tours know that those things last upwards of EIGHTEEN MONTHS. Ugh. Seven is a breeze, comparatively speaking.
6. Speaking of...yeah, I've been through it before - which is a good thing. And just to clear it up... all the bad things I could point out the first time around are completely different in his (our) situation. Trust me, it took me two years to say it, but I shouldn't have been in the other one to begin with. Hindsight and maturity tells me that blaming what went wrong in a crappy-to-begin-with relationship on the Pentagon is about as ludicrous as saying that my hangover headache is caused by cell phone waves...there might be a slight connection, but there's much more of a chance that the most obvious problems caused it. I'm glad I DID go through it before, because I probably would be freaking out the same way I did the first time if I hadn't gone through it. He doesn't need that kind of freakout, and to be honest, I'm completely okay with the whole thing. I don't WANT him to go (hint, hint, Obama), but he's certainly not the kind of guy to run out on his obligations like that. I think it's a pretty admirable thing to do, especially since he didn't HAVE to choose that line of work - he went to one of the best schools in the nation for both his undergraduate and masters degrees and definitely could have found another way to pay for it in this day and age, but he chose it because of what it instilled in him as well as what it gave this country. Just thought I'd clear that up since - I'll be honest - I'd be a little wary of it too if I were my friends, given the insanity of two years ago. For the record, Kate gives her approval, and that girl has NEVER given her approval to a guy I've dated. Until now. ;)

Anyway, I'm still wondering...what's in the box? It's killing me.