Two Months Down

It has now been two months since I left the US to come to the "combat zone". Which means I have about 4 months to go before I come home on leave and about 10 months before I come home from the deployment. Time is going by pretty quickly but still it seems like such a long way to go. My days are incredibly long...and I am really busy. But this makes those days on the calendar dwindle away. I have been thinking a great deal about everyone at home. Wondering what they were up to. Wishing that I could talk to them all. Hoping that they have not forgotten about me. Then I think of the upcoming holidays and get sentimental. For the last few years I have hosted Thanksgiving dinner at my house. I cook the turkey and stuffing and everyone else would bring the side dishes. Then there was the wine...damn we drank alot of that last year. Haha. There was always some kind of drama going on to make the holiday special. Last year it was the "G" man who cut his finger cutting bread right before we cut the turkey. He was rushed to the emergency room and got some stitches and then we finally cut the turkey after he returned. But G always did something that made things interesting. Like the time he burned poor John with a hot cookie tray or broke Christa's glass cutting board when he chopped chicken like a cracked out sou chef. Then made the statement "I don't mind." Ha Ha. I can't tell you how much he has made me laugh over the years. He is funny as hell and I love him to death. He is also an amazing cook and should be doing that professionally. When I come back in February, I want to have a Thanksgiving at my house with me and my baby and all my buds. And I want the "G" man to do the cooking and make sure it doesnt take a week to "cook the balls". This year, I hope the gang spends thanksgiving together and they set a place at the table for me. I have a great deal to be thankful for. Mostly what I have is the love and support of my family and friends. Even if I had nothing else...I'd be a rich man. This knowledge is what is sustaining me through this deployment. It gives me hope and helps me bide my time here in Iraq. Thank you all.