We survived this Christmas!
I knew we would, I just didn't know how well we'd manage and if Christmas Eve was an indicator, we were in for some trouble. I have definitely not been myself this year. I cut out all the extensive gift giving I've done in previous year, I knew I didn't have it in me. I also made Derrick help me with everything before he left. Shopping was hard enough with him, for me to have done it all with him gone- Christmas would not have been the same. It really took so much of me to keep it together for the boys. I couldn't let life's circumstances take away from the holidays. So I put on my face and jumped into Christmas.
Okay I lied, I did it more than I'd like to though. That was the case until Christmas Eve. Emotions got the best of me and I apologize to anyone I ran into while out and about. I know I was short with you, I know that I probably came across like a mad woman with a borderline Grinch attitude and at the time, I didn't care. Now, I apologize. The morning of Christmas eve I read the headlines, that's about all we can do here, and saw an article on Afghanistan. Why do I still read this stuff? Sure enough, we lost one. Nationality unconfirmed, but at this point, I don't care. NATO and.or US troops should be safe, they should be alive on Christmas eve and not getting killed by terrorist groups. Knowing that and the region Derrick is in, I was concerned. I knew, or assumed he was safe. Had anything happened to him, I would like to think I would have known before it made the world news circuit, but I was still concerned.
As the day continued and I never heard from him it really left me uneasy. I still managed to keep a little sane by baking up a storm. I mean seriously, for me and the boys I made 4 mini loaves of banana bread, 6 dozen chocolate chip cookies, 3 dozen choc oatmeal cookies and 4 dozen snickerdoodles. (anyone want some cookies?) After all the baking I threw together the most non traditional Christmas dinner, but hey, we didn't hit the drive through so I'm pretty proud. After our dinner of edamame (soy beans) and chicken cordon bleu we watched Christmas specials until we were able to track Santa. That got Luke excited and eager for bed. With some agressive persuasion he managed to get Brandon to go to bed too.
Once they were in bed, it got tough again, time to do Christmas alone. What normally takes 15 minutes took me nearly 2 hours. Eventually I fell asleep and woke even before the boys. How was I going to do on Christmas morning?
Surprisingly well. We were up and motivated early, go figure? The boys decided it was a year to break tradition. Presents then breakfast verses dad's idea of food before fun, even on Christmas. :) As we were opening presents my grandparents called. That took my mind off the missing people on our Christmas morning. Then as we wrapped up the unwrapping Derrick called! He was able to squeeze in a quick call before a day of giving classes and all the other things he must do. He didn't receive the Christmas tree in time, but he did recieve the gifts that the boys picked up. He even waited until Christmas morning to open them. He called just long enough to thank them and tell me a little about the possibility of hime being able to come home for R&R in a few months. That would be so wonderful, unfortunately, I still can't let myself believe that is going to happen. So much changes so quickly in the military that getting my hopes up now could pose a huge setback later. So I'll wait and see how this plays out. In any case hearing from him, even if for less than ten minutes, it was such a blessing and made the day so much better.
From there we grabbed a quick breakfast (at noon) then prepared for a day with friends down at the ice rink in Naha. With Andie (whose husband had to work) and Amanda and Phil (who just arrived on the 19th & are living out of suitcases in the hotel) in tow we were off for a day of fun. We seem to have made ice skating on Christmas a ritual here. The boys had a blast and are getting so much better at letting go of the wall for longer amounts of time. I managed to stay on my feet the whole time too. Added bonus!
After ice skating we went to a great little Japanese restaurant for another non-traditional dinner. The boys had pizza, fried cheese sticks, gyoza (pot stickers), fried rice and spring rolls and I had a little bit of that with sushi too! It was great & we had left overs to boot.
We made it back to the house and as I was getting a plate of cookies together for Andie to bring to her husband the phone rang. Derrick called AGAIN! Twice in one day- amazing. I'm lucky to get two calls a week and I got two in one day. Woohoo!! We were able to talk a little longer this time. He told me that the Army came up to bring them Christmas dinner. A break from the fend for yourself meals. (they don't typically get MREs & were taught how to slaughter goats before deploying, you can imagine their meals). Christmas dinner was a nice change, not as nice as some others had it. Another wife told me about her husband getting steak and shrimp cocktail. He said they brought up turkey and ham with all the fixins. The turkey was on the rotten side, he took one bite and spit it out, but the ham and everything else was good. He also told me he was hoping to take a "shower for Christmas". I had only recently learned that he is only able to take a shower every 3-4 days and they only have hot water intermittenly. They have no running water at his location and are dependant on the other military units for delivering water to them.
I like the idea I had in my head that he was at a small secure little base with all the ammenities everyone else had, that vision has slowly been erased from my mind as I learn more and more about how rugged and 'spartan' it really is. He keeps telling me that "I'm good" and not to worry about him. The best was yesterday when he told me, "I have not once felt that my life was in jeopardy." That should be reassuring to me, but if you know Derrick as well as I do, then you know about his larger than life complex. I think he honestly believes that he is ten feet tall and bulletproof. While others around him may feel threatened or on a higher level of alert he is well aware of the danger but just knows he's going to be alright. That arrogance has kept him coming back home so many times before, I hope that same ego keeps him safe this time around too. It better! ;)
Well, this has gone from a "we've survived Christmas" into something else all togehter. Bottom line is we're all doing well and we survived what we hope is our last Christmas apart. This will be the last one we spend overseas, so hopefully next year we'll be able to make plans with our extended family. I'll post another blog with some of the more memorable moments of this Christmas soon. I hope that you all are doing well and had a wonderful Christmas. Hugs & love from Okinawa!
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