...Tomorrow is only a day away!!

Just a quick update everyone. Blair is slotted to come home tomorrow, Dec. 31st!! Yay!! I am so excited!! This has been VERY long awaited!! Please keep him in your prayers while he travels (I've also been praying for the pilots and the maintenance crews!!!). Thank you all for your support during this time; it's meant the world to me!

Bad News at a Bad Time

December 19th was just a plain ol' fashioned bad day. It started out ok, sis and I went to eat breakfast with our dad for his birthday after work; I got stocking hangers at Hobby Lobby; went home and went to bed for work...same ol', same ol' stuff. Then at 12:21 p.m. Blair called and the first words out of his mouth were "Baby, I have bad news." That's when my stomach dropped. I tried to prepare myself for the worst, and the worst is what came. As you all know by now, he was due home December 21st, tomorrow. What he called to tell me was that his stay has been extended. He will not be home for Christmas...our first together as a married couple. He may even miss our first New Year's together. I am so disappointed, to say the least!! I was to the point of counting down the hours instead of months, weeks, or even days!! Now to start all over it seems. I was, and still am, so ready to hold him in my arms and now I have to wait two more weeks! I feel like I'm breaking. I can't think about it for long or I will sob, like I am now...I think this is harder than when he left the first time.
Yet, as always, there is the proverbial "but" to everything. This could possibly be a blessing in disguise. The people at the base Blair is TDY didn't pass their inspection, so they are sending more troops from our base. If Blair were to come home for the holidays, he might possibly have to turn right back around and return to the north for another three months. I would definitely rather be seperated only two weeks, rather than three months! I am so incredibly disappointed that he won't be with me for our first Christmas, but I keep reminding myself that this is his job and he's good at it. This is what he loves. This is how he is making our world better. This is how he protecting our country and farther down the line, you and me. It doesn't make it easy but it makes it bearable. I miss him and love him and support him 100%. I will just start my countdown again. Starting with today, I have 15 days until I reunite with the love of my life. Until then...

A Different Christmas Poem

Hey everyone,
This poem has an especially new and significant meaning to me this Christmas. Please read it and think of anyone you know who is serving this country, then say a prayer for them, no matter where they are...

~This came to me in an email from a soldier in Iraq.


A Different Christmas Poem
The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.
The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.
The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.

My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.
A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Marine, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.

"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"
For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night."
"It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.
No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at ' Pearl on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers."
My dad stood his watch in the jungles of ' Nam ',
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.
I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got her smile.
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white, and blue... an American flag.
I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.

I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life with my sister and brother..

Who stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure for all time that this flag will not fall."
"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."

"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
"Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife and your son."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget.
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone,
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.

For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."

Excitement is in the air!!

Today has been a day filled with excitement. First of all, it's only ONE week, as in seven short little ol' days, till my HUSBAND comes home!! I have been so stoked the entire day. I can't wait to have him home with me!! It has been so long since I saw the love of my life! I can't wait until this time next week when he'll be in my arms! I have had the biggest grin on my face for the entire day! Our reunion has been long awaited!!

Another reason I am so excited is that Lily Sue Osbon was born today at 0837 this morning!! We have known for weeks that she has a spinal defect known as spina bifida. What we didn't know is if she'd be able to move her legs after birth (spina bifida causes paralyses in some). I am happy to report, however, that she is a fighter and a kicker!! Yes, she can move her legs!!! I am so grateful! I was so excited that my job provided me the ability to be with Lily to "watch over" her first few hours of life. I was able to be there for mom and dad before the birth, I was at the delivery, I was there for the transport to the NICU, I was able to assist Lily's nurses, and I gladly kept the family informed of Lily's progress in the midst of everything! This is definitely one of the times I loved my job!! I was so blessed to be able to be a part of Lisa and Chad's huge day!
Lily is not through with her journey yet however, and still needs everyone's prayers!! She will be having surgery today at 2 p.m. to hopefully restore the spinal defect she was born with. Then tomorrow, she'll be having surgery to fix the blockage in her small little intestines. She needs our prayers and Lisa and Chad need our support in this time! God has given this earth another angel and her name is Lily! Please remember her when you talk to God...he hears us! I have so much I could say, but I will leave you with this, you can touch someone's life without ever being a part of it, all you have to do is pray!!