Hello everyone! Sorry, I've been gone for so long. I just retuned from my mid-tour leave. Everyone deployed for 365 days is authorized 14 days of Rest and Recuperation Leave in the middle of their deployment. With travel time included I was out of Iraq for three weeks. I meant to post some notes from home while on leave, but I never got around to it... Sorry.
I got back to Iraq on Thursday. I feel incredibly recharged despite the fact that I left on Monday and it took 4 and half days to get back. It seems to me that the process was much smoother on the way home than the way back. That may have something to do with the general disposition of all the travelers. On the way home everyone is in a great mood, to a man we'd all have given a kidney if someone asked for it. On the way back you'd be luck to get a smile.
Leave was great, and I that's a big part of why it was so painful to leave Michelle a second time and come back here.
We were not sure when I'd actually make it home (the flight from Kuwait through Germany to Atlanta is chartered and doesn't operate on any kind of schedule). Michelle was in NJ for the wedding of her friend (and KD sister) from The College of New Jersey, Kristin Jacobson. Michelle had RSVP'd for 2 in case I could make it home. I landed in Atlanta at 8:30 the morning of the wedding. The folks at Delta were very cooperative and 15 minutes after landing they had changed my open ticket to Roanoke, VA to Newark, NJ, and I was running to catch my 9:10 flight. Michelle picked me up at the Airport we made a quick stop at the Hotel (shower, shave, throw on a suit) and we made it to the church just before they began seating the parents.
It sounds like a lot of hustle and you might think we would have preferred a reunion at a slower more private pace, but this was really great. We both love weddings and you could really feel the love between Kristin and her betrothed, Chris. The wedding and the reception were great. My first night back in the states included a wonderful, romantic wedding, a delicious meal served in courses and an evening of dancing and enjoying the company of our great friends, Kristin and Mike, who were also at the wedding.
The next day we had breakfast with my parents and then went to a birthday party at Michelle's dad's house. Jim and the boys even came so we got to see almost everyone (Jim delivered a hug from Jen who had to work).
We left for Lexington that afternoon. It was nice to finally see our new house for real. Pictures did not do it justice. Michelle did a great job! Over the next two weeks I did a few projects around the house, hanging pictures, curtain rods, and the like. We took a few day trips in the area, went out to eat a few times, saw a movie, and just really enjoyed spending time together whatever we were doing. Whitney and Toby were particularly excited to see their old man again... Toby ran right up, gave me a hug and peed all over my leg in excitement. My parents came down to visit in the middle of the second week and we visited some of their friends who live in town. We also fought a flood, when the first hurricane came through. The last weekend we drove up to Gettysburg, PA and met up with Sandy and Jesse for a picnic at the Devil's Den and an afternoon spent lounging near the Pennsylvania Monument.
It was very hard to leave, but those two weeks reminded us how much fun we have together and now it's only 6 months till this deployment ends, I get out of the Army, and we never have to endure anything like this again.
It was soooo nice to have Dan home!!! We had a truly wonderful time...it's funny how you become so grateful for the mundane things of life, like having someone to go grocery shopping with. I'd never volunteer to do this again, but it has reminded me how lucky we are to have each other!