The most beautiful of all photos ...

This past week has been exhausting. I'm at 33 hours awake on 3 hours of sleep, but it's all been worth it.

One of my deployed units was supposed to return on Tuesday but facing delays they did not return until last night. Telling the families that had gathered at the gymnasium onTuesday that their Soldier would not be arriving for another two days was one of the hardest thing I've done since taking this job over a year ago.

The welcome party met at the HQ building starting as early as 10 p.m. last night. I arrived just after 11 p.m. filled with coffee and trying to stay awake. We arrived at the airport just after 1 a.m. and waited ... and waited. Just after 2:30 a.m. we got the news that they had arrived. Out to the tarmac we go to welcome home our weary warriors. What an amazing experience.



Words cannot describe how tired these travelers were as they slowly exited the plane and walked down the stairs. Their pace quickened as saw the final steps of their journey came into view.

They filed into the hanger, turned in their weapons and settled onto the bleachers to await their final briefings before loading up on buses to travel the last hour seperating them from their loved ones.

A little after 3:30 a.m. the Soldiers loaded onto the buses and off we went for what many Soldiers describe as the longest road home.

As they filed into the gym, the excitement could be felt as the Families stood to their feet and the cheered. The tears flowed as the Soldiers stood in formation and the commanding general thanked them for their service. 15-months was too long for them and the general had barely ended him speech when children raced forwarded into the waiting arms of their parents.

These are the moments that make the life we life worth it.

Until our next cup of tea ...

At peace again ... for now ...

Ah! Life is back to normal, well as normal as possible in the military world. I am home temporarily, return this weekend for another doctor's appointment and to see George off. This week I am at work trying to get my MP families up-to-date.

On Friday I attended the deployment of the second element in our battalion to leave a it reminded me of when George left. It was a hard time for me having to say goodbye, knowing I'd have to be strong. I made a mental note to take extra care of them as they adjust to the seperation, especially as the holidays draw near. I think for me, the holidays are the hardest.

Today, I went back to the office and spent the day catching up with the Soldiers, family members that stopped by and checked in with FRG Leaders to get updates on how the families did during Ike's visit. Hurricane-wise, post has returned to normal with only powerlines and trees damaged. All in all, we only lost power for a total of three hours over two different outages. The winds were kind of worrisome, but by yesterday, even that had died down.

My favorite part of hurricanes in thisare is the cool front that sometimes follows. It was cool and in the 70s today ... Amazing!

It was hard to go into the office and see that the entire command group was gone. They'd deployed while I was on leave (which my commander though was the best since I was closest to that particular group) and the battalion headquarters was quiet today as I walked the halls.

On a good note I moved into the XO's old office while they are gone so I'll have a little more privacy when dealing with families. It wasn't as necessary with the previous deployed unit, but we have more first-timers this deployment and I want to make sure they feel comfortable talking to me. I am excited to get it set up and will post pics.

Lastly, here are two photos of our "shelter" during the tornado sightings ... Enjoy ...

Up-to-date news is important to the puppy.



Maybe I'll let him be a "guest blogger!"

Until our next cup of tea ...