29 Dec

I haven’t been very motivated lately (at least when it comes to journal writing). It always feels like work to me which is too bad because this is a good way to keep in touch with people, not to mention as a way for me to remember what happens. I am amazed at how much I forget just from week to week. In light of that I am sure I have already forgotten things since my last writing but here is the rest. Christmas day itself was pretty much like Thanksgiving – I did a couple of test flight and ate way too much. We had missions both day and night so it really wasn’t much of a break. At the dinning facility they did a good job with the food and the decorations were once again over the top. I must say that the last couple of weeks have not been good for me health-wise. People have been getting boxes of stuff from family, friends, and strangers and they end up setting it out in the common areas at work. Most of it is really good so I find myself snacking on it all day. I am a little surprised my teeth haven’t started falling out. I made the decision to start cutting back then realized it was Christmas eve. That didn’t work out too well but now I am working on it. We get a maintenance day (no missions) once a month and this month ours was the 27^th so we decided to have our Christmas party that day. It actually felt more like a holiday since only a few people went to work (I had a test flight I needed to finish). The party was mandatory so there was some grumbling about that but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Three women planned it all (those of you who have seen the TV show The Office will appreciate the humor in that) and they did a really good job. We had all kinds of food donated (they even had smoked salmon dip) and then we BBQd more ribs, hamburgers, and hotdogs than we could ever hope to eat. The evening culminated in some wild rounds of musical chairs – fortunately the chairs were the only causalities. I have no idea if people are really bothered about not being home at this time of the year. As I have said before – missing home is almost never a topic of conversation. One thing this experience has shown me is just how manufactured the whole holiday season is. Once we remove the reason for the holiday we end up celebrating an experience (being with family, gifts, food, ect) rather than an event (Christ’s birth). Often the experience doesn’t live up to expectations so it all feels rather empty. Over here all the experiences are different so you are left with the decision that either the event is worth celebrating or it’s not and with most people it’s not so it’s just another day at work. Yesterday I flew with Terry Walls on his last flight (he’s going to flight school). It has been quite an honor to work with him and we are really going to miss him around here. He is going to make a great pilot.

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