It's the final countdown

We're finally down to about 16 days before JG gets home. I've not done a single Christmas preparation. The closest thing to "holiday" I've come to is attending the office seasonal party. I brought the boys, they had babysitting there, and quite honestly that was the only reason I was able to attend.

Last year JG and I went together and his mother sat the kids for us. Martha had taken me to get the dress which was no easy feat as I was on crutches from and ankle surgery. You should have seen my face at the Officer's Club when the event was on the second floor and there wasn't a working elevator. Can we say Cathedral ceilings?

I was daydreaming about how sweet JG was last year. He requested our song "At Last" by Etta James. We 'danced' right there at our table. Here's the photo Ms Carolyn took of us with her cell phone.

This year Gary and Amy Coppage were taking portaits again and it was all I could do not to cry watching our wedding slideshow they had playing. Gary had the first retirement ceremony at the Air Force Memorial and he jumped at the chance to shoot our wedding.

JG and I haven't even picked out photos for the albums. Heck, we haven't even sent out thank you cards yet. (I'm refusing to do them by myself.)

Those things will have to take a back seat to our splurge at the indoor water park Great Wolfe Lodge in Williamsburg and some overall reconnecting. Looks like JG will most likely be home before the New Year so we'll be starting 2010 exactly where I want to be - right by his side.

Last game of the season ...

It's like the cliched start to an action flick: We need you to come out of retirement for just One. More. Mission. Chances of survival are slim. Odds are stacked against you. Oh, and there are kids invovled. Only I'm not really coming out of retirement. We're in the United Arab Emirates, so pretty safe. And the only hindrances to mission accomplishment are our own internal struggles to release information without anyone sounding like idiots. Oh, and there's no kids involved. But otherwise totally like a bad action movie ...

As a semi-related sidenote, New York Mets catcher Brian Schneider (Happy belated, Backstop!) And I were born on the exact same day. Other than him being bigger, stronger, more in shape and talented, there's hardly any difference between us at all. So it occurs to me that I could totally be playing for the Mets right now instead of deployed to the Middle East. Let's go Mets ...

We were actually requested to come out to the UAE for a pretty high-profile gig. As a service, the Air Force takes a lot of flack over the F-22 Raptor. There are lots of good arguments on both sides of the issue whether or not we need the jet. Much of that comes from it having never fought a combat mission or been tested in the Middle East. Well, that second point is no longer valid as a half dozen Raptors are out here for an exercise. To hear the pilots and maintainers talk about it, the jet performs beyond expectations. And there is another indisputable fact: The F-22 is just awesomely awesome ...

The best thing about being here, as awesome as the Raptor is, is the fact that this is, for all intents and purposes, our last mission before we go home. It's been a long six months of emotional and professional roller coaster rides. Jennifer and I continue to make plans for all the ways we want to reconnect as husband and wife, as parents to Zachary and Edward and all the other relationships we have with friends. Basically, just making sure we're meeting each other's needs. Talking about everything we want to do - family vacation to the Great Wolf Lodge, playing video games together, etc - has kept us all very excited about homecoming. Although I don't think Jennifer is quite aware of how often we'll be eating at Five Guys Burgers & Fries ...

But for now, it's focus on the mission so we can end our tour strongly. I've had the chance to take a lot of pictures again, so that's been cool. Also have a couple of stories in the works that I can't wait to get sent out. And while I've written before about how Yoshi should get an F-15E Strike Eagle as a secret vehicle in the next Mario Kart, I think I have another suggestion as well ...