Home Sweet Home
I've been home for almost 3 weeks now and Baghdad is slowly fading into a hazy memory. Sucking down margaritas for a week on a beach in Mexico probably speeded that process along, but now it's back to my old office in downtown Los Angeles. Not much has changed, this is the federal government after all. Most of my projects are exactly where I left them almost 7 months ago.
My wife and I have been cautiously getting to know each other again. Our six-month separation challenged our relationship like nothing else in the last 6 years of marriage. We both grew personally and professionally, and now we have to figure out where we fit in each other's new life. We're taking each day as it comes, but we're two smart kids, we'll figure it out.
Now we're looking forward to our next challenge. I'm going back to school in the Fall. I could have picked from half a dozen great schools in southern California, but no, we're picking up and heading to the northeast. Of course, before that happens, we have to finish flooring the living room, recarpet the upstairs, rent out our townhouse and pack up all of our belongings. Oh, and in the middle of all that, we're travelling to Egypt for 3 weeks of "vacation" with family. My loving father-in-law decided that I had not spent enough time in the Middle East this year so he organized a tour of Cairo, Luxor, and Sharm el Sheik for our extended families. Should be fun, but it means I have a month to set everything up for the move. Oh well, it beats getting shot at.
Speaking of, I received an email from a friend of mine at USAID. They had a rocket hit about 50 meters from the housing units that I was living in. Thankfully, it was on the other side of two sets of blast walls and no one was hurt, but it sure makes me happy to be home.
My wife and I have been cautiously getting to know each other again. Our six-month separation challenged our relationship like nothing else in the last 6 years of marriage. We both grew personally and professionally, and now we have to figure out where we fit in each other's new life. We're taking each day as it comes, but we're two smart kids, we'll figure it out.
Now we're looking forward to our next challenge. I'm going back to school in the Fall. I could have picked from half a dozen great schools in southern California, but no, we're picking up and heading to the northeast. Of course, before that happens, we have to finish flooring the living room, recarpet the upstairs, rent out our townhouse and pack up all of our belongings. Oh, and in the middle of all that, we're travelling to Egypt for 3 weeks of "vacation" with family. My loving father-in-law decided that I had not spent enough time in the Middle East this year so he organized a tour of Cairo, Luxor, and Sharm el Sheik for our extended families. Should be fun, but it means I have a month to set everything up for the move. Oh well, it beats getting shot at.
Speaking of, I received an email from a friend of mine at USAID. They had a rocket hit about 50 meters from the housing units that I was living in. Thankfully, it was on the other side of two sets of blast walls and no one was hurt, but it sure makes me happy to be home.
posted @ 5:11 PM
