**

... to have a number of beautiful women as friends. I have been extremely busy at work lately. Also, my wife and I are working on putting our family back together. That means I haven't had a lot of time to post and I really haven't had much to say anyway. That doesn't mean that I haven't been reading you all. (Have I mentioned I really, REALLY love Bloglines? Well, I do!) This week I came across two posts from two of my best friends and I wanted to share them with you. The first is from Rose Princess and is the re-post of an e-mail she received from work. It is from a non-military woman that really tells what it means to be a military spouse. Rose Princess is a military spouse whose husband is getting ready to redeploy to fight the war on terror. That's right, I said RE-deploy. He's been there before and is heading back. She is my best friend here at Camp Swampy and I understand and appreciate her sacrifices more than most might because I know what those sacrifices entail. If you want to know, hit the link above and check it out.
The other lady that touched me this week is none other than Lime, my best internet friend. Michelle has been there for me at times that I though I was just going to throw in the towel and give up. She never let me feel sorry for myself and never let me quit. My life is improving by leaps and bounds and it's mainly because she wouldn't let me sink into self-pity. She posts a Flash Fiction 55 and also posts a count every Friday. What is a count you ask? It's kind of the anti-Fuck You Friday where bloggers count their blessings or something they are happy about in their lives. Lime's this week was about three little words and it touched me deeply. Go check it out.

It may be too late to do a count this week, and I normally don't do them anyway, but if I did, I would count these two strong, beautiful women. I am proud to have them as friends and hope that I can be as good a friend to them as they are to me. I love you both.