Christmas in Iraq

I suppose it is mandatory to post on Christmas. Today was a beautiful day...sunny, blue skies, and about 65 degrees Fahrenheit. We all took it easy today on a "holiday routine". Over here in the war zone that doesn't quite mean "don't come to work" , but it does mean don't spend all day there. Stop in, clear your emails, get a little work done, then get out. That's the plan I followed. I did watch a few movies in my off-time, "Get Smart" and "Four Christmases", which were both entertaining (all they have to be over here).

The Dining Facility (DFAC) put on a great spread - every meat you can think of, shrimp cocktail, yams, stuffing, egg nog, special desserts, and over the top decorations...including an 8 foot tall angel made of butter. Santa and Mrs. Claus even walked around during dinner, posing for pictures. I already had my Santa picture, so I concentrated on the food. The only down side was that I tried to overeat and stuff myself to bursting, just like at home, but I couldn't do it here...not sure why. Okay, maybe that wasn't really the down side, I was able to walk out the door instead of going into an instant food coma.

I missed being home with the family, but all in all, not a bad Christmas. I did get to call back home to say Merry Christmas to everyone and since I estimated the time incorrectly, I caught Cam in mid-present opening. Needless to say, he was excited and not in the mood to talk on the phone until later.