Goodbye 2011 and Hello 2012

Another few hours and it will be a brand new year.  Boy,  it is hard to believe that it has been a full year since the last time the ball dropped in Times Square.  But in five hours it will come down again.  2011 was an interesting year and just like every year there was a lot of good and bad throughout.  On the bad side was the very slow growth of the economy, high unemployment, political bickering and congressional grid lock, the earth quake in Japan, etc.  On the good side,  was the demise of Osama and Khadafi and the end of the Iraq War at long last.  For me, it was on balance a pretty good year.  I did lose weight this year...I am 10 pounds lighter than last year, but I have a long way to go to get back in shape.  This year I did some traveling.  Went to Washington a few times, Vegas and San Diego, and then in August I went on first overseas trip (other than when I deployed to Iraq in 2006)  when I went to Greece to be present for the wedding of Eric and Wanda.  That was a great time.  In June, T and I celebrated 5 full years together.  We added another member to the family -- Willow-- a little pooch we adopted from a local rescue organization.  So that means two humans, three dogs and two sugar gliders all sharing the house and several deadbeat mice that aren't official members of the households but eat our food and take up space in the walls of the old house.  Next year will be much different I think.  Today I received my mobilization orders for the next deployment.  I will be leaving Albany in late January and head to Camp Shelby, Mississippi for mobilization training in preparation for another trip to the desert in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (Afghanistan).  I have mixed emotions about this mission.  But I will do what I have to do.  This time next year I should be home or getting ready to come home.  But for now, I am just trying to prepare myself for 2012 the best I can.  Happy New Year to everyone.  See ya next year!

Happy Holidays

This has been a peaceful and somewhat uneventful Christmas season.  I have tried very hard to get into the spirit of the season, but there is this pending deployment that is still hanging over my head.  If you believe what the rumors say, I will be activated on or about 28 January 2011 and then its off to Camp Shelby for a few weeks or months.  But before that I must spend time figuring out with my civilian boss how we are gonna fill my position at work for a year.  But I digress.  Christmas 2011 was pleasant.  Last Friday, after a long day of gift shopping,  I convinced T into going to the Palace to see Its a Wonderful Life on the big screen.  Lots of people were there.  It was a fun time, but T was not as pleased.  Ha ha.  Saturday we went to two parties and T got drunk but had a good time.  We went to T's parents on Christmas for a nice dinner.  Peaceful time.  So here I am looking at an uncertain New Year.  Six years ago, I was trying desperately to lose weight in order to get back into the military.  A year later I was in Iraq for Christmas.  Christmas 2007 I was trying hard to re-connect with civilian life after 15 months on active duty and getting ready to start my job with the Coalition.  Christmas 2008 I was just coming back from a brief deployment at West Point.  2009 and 2010 were pretty much the same, just a quiet time at home.  These past 6 years have flown by.  Now I am entering another new year with a lot of uncertainty.  I am a little nervous but also looking forward to the challenge again.  Just like 2005, I struggling to lose weight.  It is always one of my New Year's resolutions -- to lose weight.  And I guess it will be my number one resolution again for 2012!

Off to the Desert Again?

Since the day I left Iraq over 4 years ago, I knew there was a real chance that I could be deployed again.  One of the last things I remember about leaving Iraq was my stop over in Kuwait to take the "freedom bird" back home.  I recently found out that I was scheduled to deploy again -- this time to Kuwait.  It looks like I will be activated in late January 2012 and deployed a few months later.  I have mixed emotions deploying this time around, (missing T, the dogs, my co-workers, etc.) but I have been called again and there isn't anything else I can do.  In preparation for that deployment, this last week I attended a conference at the Pentagon with other attorneys and paralegals I will be deploying with.  Very interesting things.  I am trying to get into the holiday spirit but the deployment is weighing heavily on my mind right now.  But I am slowing but surely doing what I need to do to get ready.  I will be writing much more in the coming weeks.  Hopefully someone out there will actually be reading this besides me!

20 years

It's hard to believe that 20 years ago my father passed away at the age of 67. I was just 27 at the time. I was writing a paper for school when my brother called to tell me the news. Dad had had a stroke right before thanksgiving but we were hopefully he would recover. He didn't though. I still have dreams about dad. He is always alive in though dreams. I miss him. Dad...I love you and miss you. Say hi to mom. I can't believe its been 20 years.


-- Post From My iPhone

Location:Albany Ny