Christmas in the Desert.

Most of the people reading this are sitting at home on a lovely Sunday afternoon sipping some sort of calming beverage while enjoying the day. Maybe it's even snowing. Or at least that's the happy picture I paint myself as I get ready to go to sleep out here in the desert. I miss my family so bad right now. It occurred to me today that this is the first Christmas season that I have not been at home. Like, home-home, with my family. It also occurred to me that home is the only place I want to be right now and I cannot be there. It's so frustrating to me.
So instead, I focus on the memories. Last year me and my sister went to target and bought footie pajamas and had mom-mom drive us to the mall to take pictures with Santa. We also made a generous amount of Oreo truffles that we insisted on calling Oreo balls, and then decorated the tree's outside with big colorful over sized mirror balls in addition to putting out the broken lighted up deer. Those poor deer kept falling down all Christmas! We drove around the neighborhood looking at all the decorated houses and then at some point....or many different points we always watch Elf. It's almost a tradition. My brother and I took off to the park last year and went sledding, then mom-mom went and bought us a cool snow board....that I don't think I ever got on :( Maybe next year. On the sledding trip...for some reason...we decided to take all three dogs. Bad idea!! :) We ended up taking them back. I also remember a cookie baking incident where we named a cookie and proceeded to write the name, in icing, on the cookie sheet BEFORE we put him in the oven. I'm pretty sure the name is burnt onto the cookie sheet to this day. Oops! :) Last year was also the year that John and Cindy got their first cell phones and sent out their first text messages!! How exciting!!
Basic idea for the night is: I want to go home. I sense that this is a bad feeling to have, being as I have only been here two weeks now.
More on this later. I have to be at the motor pool by 0700 to get our trucks ready. Yippee! (and it is almost 11 pm here.)
Goodnight! I miss you all, I can guarantee you that!