Out with the old...

It is going to be 2010 in about an hour. The past year has been interesting, and the upcoming year looks to be more of the same. Oh well, better to have a lot going on than nothing, eh? See you again in 2010!

Good to be home!

It is morning here, and outside it is cold and cloudy. I have just returned from the Post Office, having just mailed off the last of my Christmas/Holiday cards. Life is good! The snow has been compacted down by both warming temps and rain over the past few days, but now it is freezing up again - it will become a nice hard base for the next bout of snow that we should get in the future. Being from the Northeast, I believe that Christmas should have snow. I received a card the other day from my team Down Range, congratulating me on making O-1 - thanks guys!

Commissioned

Well, it finally happened! This is something that I have been working at since 12 September 2001 - I made the decision that morning to go back into service and to become a naval officer (doing whatever it is that we do). From the beginning there were a lot of obstacles (you have no idea what a roller coaster ride this has been). I was told dozens of times that this was never going to happen and to just give up - did I mention that I am persistent? Well, it is incredibly satisfying to be here now, and take it from me, it was worth all the hassles (you only truly appreciate the things you have to work and fight for...). There is a lot of work in the future (gotta go back to school and start training from scratch). There will be a lot of mistakes made, and I will have to learn a whole new way of doing things, but I am so happy, and I know that I made the right choice here. The picture up top was taken just before pinning on the gold bars of Ensign (nicknamed "butter bars"). I received my first salute shortly afterwards from a Petty officer First Class (and he got a shiny new 2009 silver dollar - as per tradition). Still not used to that. Wearing khaki in the Navy is a big deal, and I am definitely not used to that either! Yet, I can't wait to start this brand new chapter of my life - I am incredibly thankful for all of this...

The Time Has Come

Tomorrow is Pearl Harbor Day (07 December 2009) - and, ironically, it will also be the day that I get commissioned as an Ensign in the US Navy. I have joked that I hope that it won't be another day of infamy for the Navy, but all self-deprecating kidding aside, I am totally excited about tomorrow. This is the culmination of eight years of a lot of hard work and persistence; there were a whole lot of obstacles, and it looked like it wasn't going to happen more times than I can remember, but throughout it all there were a lot of folks out there who encouraged me to keep going at it. And it finally happened. Wow. Right now it feels like Christmas Eve - it won't really really sink in until after I take the oath of commissioning (at 1030 hours Central Time). Some special folks will be with me to pin on my butter bars, and I have a set of khakis all ready. A lot of things will change, but I will never forget where I came from - it is all about serving our Country, and taking care of our Sailors. I sincerely hope that I will be a capable and decent officer - in the meantime, I hope all of you can achieve your goals and dreams - think of it as my Christmas wish for you all!