Just another manic...Tuesday

My Dear Sweet Rutabaga,

Not completely sure what a rutabaga is but have always admired them. I have always admired you too! So today was one of the hardest days I've had to wake up. Just did not want to get out of bed. Almost considered not going to work (not really but wanted to anyways). Work was work. Nothing new there. Everyone is enjoying the chocolate and decorations you sent. SSG Hoff seems to really admire how supportive you are and thinks a lot of the random stuff you send. I think he just really likes to eat it. I did wear the bow tie to do an exam on a patient. I guess I got selected along with a few other people from the clinic to go to a Thanksgiving dinner at some resort in Kuwait with the embassy. Sounds pretty sweet. SSG Hoff was pretty bummed he didn't get selected so I offered him my seat but I don't think he will take it. Sort of sad news is it looks like I will be coming home pretty much when I was supposed to come home practically to the day. We are expecting to leave at best 19 January from Kuwait but then still have a few days at CRC. Bummer but I guess that is what we expected. The bummer is that everyone else will be leaving before us. Just CPT Banks and my replacement won't get here until after. I'll just keep going to the gym I guess.

I read scriptures on the bus but of course that wasn't really a pondering place. I'm going to read some after this letter and choose another ponders scripture. I worked out. That's about it.

Tomorrow I want to wake up early again and exercise. Call you energized. Send the kids letters (I didn't have Izaacs today printed to send it). Get a good workout. And follow up with my personal statement.

I feel there was no time out of work today. At work, I felt like there were moments that I had to help SSG Hoff today and yesterday because he just seems down. I think his retirement is sinking in and he is getting stressed. One thing though is come out of our conversations and that is friends and acquaintances come and go. Even people we think we are so close to we will never lose touch we end up, well, losing touch. Life seems to place us in the paths of individuals to influence us or us on them but then life carries us on and we move apart from those individuals. The only exception is that of our families. Life may take us but our families are the only ones that get taken with us. No other commitment/vow/covenant binds you to anyone other than those that vine families together. That is why we must do all we can to ensure our family stays together and travels together, and, like you said, arrives together. There just isn't anyone else in the world that has any lasting significance outside of the family ties. I think the world has forgotten or been distracted from that and people seek relationships and lasting friendships outside of the family only to find that friendships are lost and people change and move on. But in the family, change happens together.

I love how our family wagon is moving with us all aboard.

You're the wheels on my bus and make me go round and round.

Honk honk

Love,

Your love bus