Almost there

We are now down to 20 days until Todd comes home!! It almost doesn't seem real. It just seems like my life will continue as it is-- just following our regular routine and talking to Todd. It will seem weird to actually have him here. He should be leaving Kabul in about 2 weeks, and then he'll be in Manas (not sure of the spelling) for a couple days before flying out. He'll retrace his steps, flying from Manas to Turkey to Germany to Baltimore. There he'll spend the night, since he'll be getting in around 10:30 pm. The next morning he'll fly on to Syracuse (not sure if it will be a straight flight or not), where I'll get to pick him up at the airport. We'll have to drive straight back to Rome so he can return his weapon, but then he's all mine. :o) We're going to head to the Casino/Hotel thing that's here in New York for the evening and then I'll bring him home the next morning. The down side is that he's coming home on a Saturday, which means that it will be a Sunday morning when we get back. So he'll get to see the kids for a little bit, but we'll still have to be getting them ready for church. Then they'll get to sit with him for an hour, and then not see him for another 2 hrs. after that. But regardless, it will be nice.
Then he will have to go to Boston for 2 days the following week to turn in gear and such. (I think it would make more sense for them to just fly him into Boston, let him turn all of his stuff in, and then just send him home so he can stay home, but it is what it is.) He's planning on taking Nathaniel and William with him, though, to spend a little time with them, and also since they're old enough to get military IDs now. So that will be nice for the boys.
It's been a long almost 6 months, and these next 3 weeks will probably seem the longest, but the end is in sight. I know that Todd has missed the family, but he's also glad that he went. He's been able to make some real contributions to the war in Afghanistan because of his position over there. He's always tried to look for opportunities to make a difference over there, where a lot of time, people just do only what they have to and that's it. So, even though it's been a sacrifice for us, it's made, or will make, life better for many of the Afghani people. So that's something he can be very proud of and we are proud of him as well.
HE'S COMING HHHHHHOOOOOMMMMMMEEEEE!!!!!!!!!