Thanksgiving #2 and some re-deployment thoughts

HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

I know this post is a day late, but we had some internet problems last night. That, and I slept after lunch and dinner due to turkey intoxication. Unlike last year where I was slammed with patients, housed the entire turkey dinner in 10 min, then ran back to my clinic only to have my patient no-show on me, I did not even conceive the idea of going into the clinic today. One, because I don't really have that many patients anymore, and two, I just didn't feel it was necessary. So overall, Thanksgiving 2008 was actually quite enjoyable.

Thanksgiving 2008 was a day of beginnings, and a day of finality. As a lead up story..... Some of you are aware that I have been struggling with a tremendously limiting case of achilles tendonitis. It started with training with Kathy for her marathon in September (that she downgraded to a half marathon due to the "roads" tearing her legs up as well....that she did not get to run anyway due to bad weather delaying her return to the States for leave). I continued to run, and after the Labor Day 5k run, I could barely walk. I hit the bike hard for a month, then trialed the elliptical. Still too painful and swollen. Finally, November 5th, I was able to run 1 mile with no pain. The miles built up since then, leading to the Thanksgiving 10K. This was a first. It was my first 10K "race". I didn't race it at all. The "roads" (in quotation marks for a reason) are awful, and how my legs got tore up to begin with, so I didn't want to risk another 10 weeks of being an invalid. So Kathy, Chris "Eugene" and I had fun running it, joking and singing the majority of the run. We finished within a minute of each other all coming in around the 53 min mark (plus or minus 30 seconds). This was also a first in that I am usually traveling on Thanksgiving, and was able to complete my first Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. I had a great time and actually was in a better mood throughout the day in having done it. I hope to continue to run some sort of Turkey Trot in the coming years. Now that Deanna runs and enjoys 5Ks, I hope to complete the runs together as a tradition. The other point to make is, you start the day in a calorie deficit, so eating that piece of pie for breakfast doesn't seem so difficult, or later in the day for that matter.

Today was also a day of beginning of the end. Today was the last major holiday spent in Iraq. We deployed on 29 October of 2007, missing the first holiday, Halloween, and all the holidays in between, including 2 Thanksgivings. We were on tap for 2 Christmas' and New Years', but by the Grace of God and some great Leaders high in the Echelons of Command, we are able to return for the Christmas holiday. Over that past 13 months, which is now complete, I have made some great friends, who have been my family here in theater. Affectionately known by each other as "The Disgruntles", we have been here for each other through tough times and through the easier parts of the deployment. When support from home waxed and waned with convenience and acknowledgment coinciding with holidays or family events, their loyalty was steadfast. With redeployment crawling towards us, there is some anxiety involved with coming home. The people who have been my immediate, support here in theater are going to be an intimate, but distant part of my life. I will forever be impressed by their character and friendship. It's hard to leave a friendship that tight behind as you return to "life". Especially as an attached asset to the unit, I will likely not see these people anytime in the near future, as some are getting out of the Army and others are pursuing greater things in the Sister Services or within the Army, in different commands. On this day, I am truly thankful for meeting them, and being accepted as part of the small family of deployed providers.

This leaves me here. 2 weeks from starting my journey home. The final chapter of this Blog is about coming home and re-uniting with family and life in the States. I hope that you all enjoy(ed) your Thanksgiving Turkey and took a moment to truly give thanks for the people that surround your life. I Thank you all for your support. Without you, this journey would have been too difficult to describe.

See you soon. And try not to get run over at the Shopping Center this week.