Here in the Kuwaiti desert, things have been festive. Filling in for my Battalion Commander while he's been home on leave, by week's end I will have attended four days of holiday parties, all the while trying to mind what I eat. To counter the extra calories and cholesterol, I've been cycling more. Today I went on a 47-miler with a couple of friends, battling the Oklahoma-like winds that I miss so much. On Christmas Eve, I did 21 miles after a mile swim, and on the 23rd I did 23 miles.
What better way to celebrate Christmas than with butter sculptures and ornately carved fruit? The Dining Facility was chock full of them -- Mary & Joseph with baby Jesus, Santa on his sleigh (with only two reindeer), Obama and Bush shaking hands....wait, what? Apparently the Third Country Nationals at the DFAC ran out of Christmas things to sculpt. See pics below.
Even more creative, if not outright strange, was Joker Claus at one of the parties. Yes, an enterprising junior officer dressed up as Santa from the neck down, but his head was dressed as the Joker in the latest Batman movie. You can see a video clip here -- his performance was, creepily, pretty good. He obviously had some leftover Halloween makeup he didn't want to waste...but, and those that know him will agree, only he could make it work and get away with it.
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As a kid of divorced parents, I usually had two Christmases: one on Christmas Eve with Mom, the second at Dad's the next day, after travelling to see him. I've always considered myself lucky in this respect: I have remained close to both of them my whole life.
This year, even though this is the first (and hopefully only) Christmas I have ever had to spend away from family in 19 years, I am especially grateful for everything and everyone in my life. Lori and I celebrated 19 years of marriage this week, and I dutifully sent flowers (at work) and jewelry. The best reason for us to be thankful is our oldest son recently walked away from a deadly car accident with nothing more than a bump on his forehead and sore ribs. It was clearly not his fault, but the family of the other man is certainly in our thoughts and prayers.
1 comment:
Thanks for making me an internet phenomenon Sir? Ha-ha, I detailed the day on my post as well (minus the butter false idols because they didn’t fit into the story).
Merry Christmas!
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