Well another holiday has come and gone in Iraq. You wouldn't have known it was Christmas Day if not for the verbal greetings of "Merry Christmas". I still worked 13 hours, the PX remained open, and there was still a mail call (Thanks Briar for the x-mas card).
I had a Christmas morning thanks to Casie and her Christmas-in-a-Boxtm. I unwrapped two picture frames, one for the office and one for my CHU. She also sent me a little memento of home, a Magna Doodle the exact same color, about half the size, of the one I have at home. The best gift was a 20 minute Ben & Casie picture slide show set to songs that hold special meaning to us. I miss you cutes, but staring our pictures together helps! :-) Thank you.
The chow hall was decorated and had another amazing spread of food like they did for Thanksgiving. I had roast turkey, mashed potatoes, mac & cheese, a fresh baked roll, and a slice of cheese cake. They also had a specialty drink section with about ten varieties of non-alcoholic concoctions. I had a mocha cream drink that tasted like a Starbucks drink, it was yummy.
The only thing missing was my family, but I was able to get through the jammed phone lines (thanks Martinez) to talk to my family on the phone for over an hour. I also called Casie, at her parents, for about 30 minutes. The phone calls made the day about as perfect of a holiday as you could hope for over here. I haven't talked to my brother and sister on the telephone in months. It was nice.
The greatest gift I received was a Christmas away from home thanks to all my family and friends who sent trees, wreaths, stockings, gifts, cards, and cookies. A Christmas in Iraq could have been very forgettable, but it become special and one I will never forget.
5 comments:
I'm glad you liked the magna doodle. I was pretty excited for you to open that. Oh yeah, we finally got snow! It isn't much and Christmas was pretty green, but there's some snow now.
Hi Ben,
Your dinner sounded delicious. We're glad we got to talk to you on x-mas.It just was not the same without you here. Well your half way through just hang in there it well go by fast.
Thank You for the picture of all three of you. That was a great gift.
Love Ma & Dad
ok, you totally ate better than me on Christmas ;)
And yes, you have to call me Becket now. Don't you forget it, no more Beckula.;) Casie took pictures of my painting. Just wait, just you wait. From far enough away, it's actually impressive. :)
I don't get it. "Becket"? If I am not part of the joke, Beckula it stays! :-)
How far away before it looks good?
Maybe your name should be Beck "Bob Ross" Applin or Bobby for short!
Becket....like Monet. C'mon. His work only looks like something from far away.....c'mon Ben, c'mon. I'm losing faith in you.
Casie has the pictures :)
Beckula goes. It's deceided...or I'll have to come up with something equally awful for you ;)
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