Oh My its 2009!

Jeeshe! Its already been a while since I last posted a blog....the holiday season has come and gone.

Thanksgiving break felt like a blink of the eye. Tony and I packed up our kitties in my car and drove up the day before Thanksgiving (no thanks to the Marines, I would have left the day before that!) Traffic was horrible. Then my muffler blew a hole out a few hours into the trip. This caused a fight between Tony and I, I think the bad traffic was mostly to blame for our crankiness. Thankfully, it was not a very costly repair and my little car passed inspection.

Christmas break was a few hours longer than Thanksgiving. We drove up in the truck Christmas Eve with our kittens packed up in the backseat like usual. The drive was a breath of fresh air for once. Traffic was reasonable and nothing major happened to slow us down. We made great time and go home around 7 in the evening. Christmas was wonderful. I had bargain shopped for most of my gifts and put a lot of thought into each present I chose, since I couldn't break the bank buying gifts, I wanted to pick ones that had meaning. I felt like a kid again, excited on Christmas morning...but more for my family to all open their gifts. I got so many wonderful things from Tony and my family. And this was a special Christmas, it was our first as husband and wife.

Even our kittens had some presents to open. And they actually sat there bright eyed as I opened toys and treats for my little guys. It was so nice to be home with my family, a few inches of snow would have made it story-book style.

I did find myself a little melancholy missing my grandparents. My grandpa was suddenly taken by a massive heart attack early December 2005 and my grandma joined him after a battle with Alzheimer's Disease early November 2007. I never realized how much of an impact they had on the holidays for me until after they were both gone. Christmas Eve was almost always spent with this set of grandparents. Almost every Christmas Eve we would go to Mass then come back and exchange gifts. Christmas Day was almost always spent in our PJs, just the nuclear family opening and playing with gifts all day. And the following day, known as Boxing Day in England, was spent with my dad's parents. This year, my Christmas Eve grandparents were not here with us and my Boxing Day grandparents had gone to Oregon to spend the holiday with my dad's brother. If I had known that Christmas 2004 would have been the last one with my mom's parents, I would have tried to cherish every little detail and stashed it away forever. I hope they knew how much time with them really meant to me. I guess its all just part of growing up, grandparents don't live forever. But I sure did miss them this year...

And its already 2009. New Year's Eve was spent just Tony and I here at the apartment. The two leave blocks were only separated by about 36 hours, yes it is stupid they wouldn't just connect them and give the guys a break. So we decided to save the long drive and miles on the truck since nothing major was happening for the celebration back home anyway. I barely stayed awake for the ball drop.

This is a big year. This is the year where Tony's End of Active Service (EAS) with the USMC finally arrives. This means come May 15, 2009 that Tony is free to move back to PA with me and pursue his dream of becoming a part of the State Police. Its such an exciting time for him. But deep down inside I have a tiny voice saying not to get too comfortable because when Tony signed a contract with the Marine Corps, he signed an eight year contract. I'm sure many who are not familiar with military service might be shocked by this fact. But it is true. The first four years are active, living on or around base: PTing, deployments, long days, the whole works. The second four are inactive. This means that if there is a need for Marines, he has a slight chance of being recalled. Rumors fly around the base saying that only certain ranks get called, certain jobs, heck even so much as to say certain sections of the alphabet. Its just a part of life I guess. Although I am hopeful we won't be called back. I guess there are also ways to prove you cannot financially support your family with military pay. So we'll keep our fingers crossed!