An update on the Old Man (and his Old Lady)

The Old Man called!!!!! Gosh, I miss him so much! He's been on rotation for about a week now and has a few more to go. It was so good to hear from him! He sounded great! He was very upbeat and sounded energized. He said that he has his own room and is enjoying the privacy and actually getting time to rest between shifts without distractions.

He said that he is happy about the progress they are making. They are working hand in hand training the Iraqi army and have been successfully finding and detaining insurgents non-stop. His Marines are working together very well and he is confident that they are accomplishing their mission. It was refreshing to hear him so positive.

On another note, the Old Man did mention that there have been a lot of casualties for both American troops working with H&S and Iraqi's. (Remember, casualties are not always the worse case scenario. Casualty reports include major and minor injuries.) He mentioned this to remind me that anything appearing in the news has already happened long ago, so everyone is OK! Then to ease my worries even more, the Old Man reassured me that he and his Marines are well trained and well equipped. These things should be something for all of us to remember.

His thoughtfulness surprises me sometimes. He said that in his spare time, he has been writing letters to us all and thank you notes to everyone who has sent him packages. He even said that he wrote a two page letter to my co-workers for doing the donation drive! The Old Man wanted me to mention that he received Nirmal's package and Peggy's package and loves them both! (He'd write letters, but does not have your addresses with him and can't access the computer until he returns from rotation.) He even managed to buy me a ton of thoughtful gifts before he left. I have received something every day for a week!

As for me, after my Strep-iness, I went to a gathering for 1/6 families in the DC/VA area. It was wonderful! There were a lot of parents there and we had dinner and chatted for hours. I'm excited to say that I met my first Marine Wife friend!! Her name is Cara and her soon to be fiance, John, accepted the same re-enlistment package as the Old Man! She will be relocating to the VA area so her and I will be sticking together for a while. We had a great time. Otherwise, I'm doing well. Although I've had quite a few Old Man-like situations in the past two weeks, ie. giving myself a black eye from hitting my head, getting two flat tires, being awarded an overpriced parking ticket, making specific shopping trips to places that wound up being closed, playing hide and seek with my check card, and it goes on and on...but keep your fingers crossed because hopefully my luck is about to change! ;) I'll keep you posted!

The important thing is that my spirits are up! Sophie is the cutest thing ever laying on my lap right now, I wrote our first married Christmas cards (exciting!!), and I decorated the crap out of my office at work! (that last one is lame, yes, but I didn't get a tree this year so I better WIN the decorating contest!) Even better is that I'm excited to go home for Christmas, super excited about the Old Man getting so many wonderful Christmas presents along with all the support, and incredibly thankful for our wonderful families and my husband's well being.

Keep praying for our Marine! Throw one in there for me too this time. I want to keep this momentum up as we head over the 'halfway hump'! Anyway, he misses us and knows we all adore him! Before the sat phone died, I was sure to tell him how proud we are of him and how much we love him!

Merry almost Christmas everyone!!!