1 Would it be accurate to say that you have ups and downs? I think some people might think you're perpetually depressed. But it's hard to truly determine someone's frame of mind from a blog. People extrapolate the whole from what you wrote in an hour. We imaginary folk have nothing else to rely on. We have to remember that a blog is a crude tool for emotional estimates.

You can still laugh. That doesn't make the pain you feel any less real. I guess it's always there in different degrees, in different locations - sometimes at the back of your mind, sometimes at the forefront. I admire you because you don't deny it - or let it define you. You still maintain perspective. You know there's more going on out there, which is why you want to write about Afghanistan. I look forward to your essay.

2 Is anyone ever ready? I wasn't, emotionally, after three years since the last deployment (though my brain was well prepared) so I guess it doesn't seem surprising that you wouldn't be after (less than?) six months. Doesn't seem like oversharing to me, seems like a statement of an expected fact.