TC the Terrible

Time for a long form Christmas rant?  Nah, not this year.  This year is a big time improvement over the past Christmas season.  Last year I was getting ready to walk out the door and into Iraq.  And don’t let the main stream media’s coverage fool you.  Iraq is still one dangerous place to be. So yeah, this is going to be a better Christmas.

The family’s coming to town en masse and we’ve got a grandkid for the first time.  Sounds like a perfect time to get drunk and be somebody.  Family drama isn’t my forte’ so there’d better not be any.  Unless you’re one of those positively happy people that believe family drama is an expression of family love.  For the record, if drama is indeed a measure of love then I’m worshiped like a Greek god.

Not sure how much sex and booze it’s going to take to get through all this family “love”.  But I’ll try to remember to blog about that when all is said and done.

By the time you read this I’ll be less than 24 hours from the arms of THE WOMAN.

If things have moved forward according plan I’ve completed 95% of my out processing paper work and am getting ready to get on the last bus home.  There’s one more stop ahead of me, then a final bus ride back to the Knoxville armory where my bride awaits me.  We’re going to take two or three days to get back to DC.

The Army has instructed me to take it slow integrating back into my regular life.  The number of Solider suicides has shot up in recent years and nobody really understands why.  It’s more than just PTSD because there’s no pattern that says troops  in intense combat have a higher suicide rate than those that have never fired a shot in anger.  I can only hope that someone smarter than me figures it out – and soon.

For me, I intend to start by getting to know my wife again.  In the Biblical sense for sure, but also to understand how she’s been changed by not having me around everyday.  I’ve changed too,  but I can’t see it since it’s been a slow thing and I’ve been around it as it happened.  After that I’ll spend some time with the kids learning how they’ve changed this  past year.

Our  only real plans call for a week at the beach doing nothing.  THE BOY wants to spend a full day in bed eating popcorn and watching Family Guy.  That sounds like a plan to me.

TC

One of the things playing Soldier caused me to miss was the birth of my first grand kid.  As bad as that sucked the Internet and Skype eased some of the pain.  The family has  been good about sending me pictures and videos.  They’ve even pointed the web cam at my new favorite girl and let me watch her sleep.

Here she is watching her play pen mobile.  The voice in the back ground is THE WOMAN.

And yes, I am wrapped around her finger before I’ve ever held her.

TC