"hacking the mish"

So the guys over in the "sandbox" as they like to call it often refer to their jobs as "hacking the mish". That is what they live for--doing the mission.  Cutting through the red tape and get the opportunity to actually do what they've been training for years to do is always a challenge and one of their greatest frustrations. In fact, because of one reason or the other, their inability to do the job they are way more than qualified to do, is one of the top reasons guys get out of this AF Special Ops field.  

I often feel like i'm "hacking the mish" myself back here in the states.  Although i wanted a full last semester to keep myself busy while Bo is gone, i've never had a more stressful, more difficult few months. The term workaholic is depressingly, albeit not by choice, accurate. I love challenging myself and staying busy with projects and schoolwork i find truly fulfilling, but there is no way i could do this amount for very long.  Thank goodness i have zero desire to go to grad school any time soon. :)   

So while my husband may be fulfilling the real meaning of the term, i find myself feeling pretty beat up by the same concept. 10-12 hour days, 7 days a week.   My "deployment" here to VU will be up with my May 9 graduation and I'll finally have my diploma in one hand and my husband's hand in my other.  What a good feeling that will be.