Christmas Eve

Today is December 24th, 2011, Christmas Eve. In the blink of an eye it seems, 2011 has come and gone and 2012 is nearly upon us. This will be our first Christmas in Maryland and I'm thankful for having so many good friends close by this season as well as being in much closer proximity to family. Most of all this year I'm thankful that I'm home with my family. It has been over a year since I returned from my 365 day tour in the sandbox, but I remember very clearly the pain of being separated from my family just two Christmases ago. While I know there will be other deployments in my future that will cause me to miss holidays, I'm glad that at least this year I'm home.

Our Christmas shopping has long been completed. There are a ton of presents under the tree for Katrina and I can't wait to see the smile on her face as she opens them tomorrow morning. I need no presents myself for seeing that look of joy from her is more than enough for me. I already got to see the look of surprise on Kristin's face when I presented her with a brand new Canon Rebel T3 DSLR as an early Christmas present. I figured she could use that to take pictures of Katrina unwrapping her presents. :)

I did get sort of an early Christmas present myself this week. I joined the Odenton Volunteer Fire Company back in May and through the process of handing in all of my South Carolina certifications, it was discovered that my HAZMAT Ops certificate would not carry over. My two options were to take the class or take an equivalency test. I opted for the latter, but schoolwork towards my Bachelors put that on hold. Recently though, I was able to set aside the time to take care of the testing and I just got word earlier this week that I passed all the requirements. This was the last major hurdle I had to overcome to be able to ride up here in Maryland. I stil have a couple of minor things to take care of, but after almost 8 months I'm finally close to actually running calls again. Considering that I have not been "on the job" since March, I'm ready.


While this time of year is generally a happy one, there are some somber feelings that come with it. While I'm home with my family this Christmas, many of my brothers and sisters in uniform are still out in harm's way. I ask that everyone take a moment to think about those who have, and are sacrificing so much this season. There are also my brothers and sisters wearing the uniforms of public servants. Fire, police and EMS personnel. They may not be overseas, but many of them are still putting their lives on the line and are unable to spend time with their families during the holidays.

I'll close by wishing all of my friends and family (and anyone else who happens to read this) a very Merry Christmas and a bright and prosperous 2012!


That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Music playing: I Believe In Father Christmas by Emerson, Lake & Palmer