J5 Hot Cocoa & First Snow

First attempt to use WordPress for my iTouch. My laptop fan died

It’s hard to believe next week is Christmas. After a break in our
deployment for R&R to Thailand, coming back to Afghanistan has been a
bit on the depressing side. No more sun, nor more sand between my toes,
no more pina colada’s on the beach laying back on a recliner watching a
fire dancer.

Side thought :: Yes I have many blogs to write to catch up on from our vacation, but ON vacation was not where I wanted to sit in front of my laptop and write. I’ll get to those over the next couple of months. My little break from reality so to say.

Being back at NKC like I stated, gave me a case of the blues. One your
exhausted, traveling to Thailand it took us four days, we came back in two. Which meant seriously long travel and wait times with no overnight sleep in a bed or even a cot. As well the change in climate! No more 80 F humid days, we were feeling the chill in Kuwait. We’d packed pretty slim. So when we saw a few snowflakes fall in Kabul? We knew things were different Toto.

I have had bright spots, care packages stacked on my desk with decorations and gifts, as well as tasty home baked goods. We decorated our office door, and my mother made an adorable suspended tree for our Chu.

But on Monday, we had our first real snow. Snow that slowly rained down
all day and began sticking! In the evening the site of the fluffy white
powder had Major W all excited and smiling – tonight was Cocoa night! Months ago when we were planning things to make our deployment nicer, he had said on our first snow day our department should all bundle up with
a mug of hot cocoa and enjoy an evening of Christmas music and the view of the snow. So – we did!

We whipped up tasty cocoa mugs, but not just plain old cocoa! We had
peppermint melts, marshmallows, and cayenne pepper to add to our cups.
Pretty soon we were all mixing up our favorite flavors and heading outside to the gazebo. Waving at those that past, inviting friends to join. I could feel my heart lighten. Music played bringing up memories of Christmas past.

The view was beautiful, all glowing white and puffy soft piles of snow
on the tree limbs made our view of the courtyard soften. It was PRETTY
out, not a word I’d use to normally describe our yard.

I was happy to see my hubby walk by and offered to make him a mug of
cocoa. Some days we don’t see each other much even in such a small
place. I realized I had missed him during that long day, it was nice to
relax with friends.

Soon talk of a snow man began taking hold and after discussion it was
decided to build a snow man off the snow only on the tables. Keeping
the gravel and dirty snow to a minimum. Maria would be involved the
most – she’d never made a snow man! Not like I’d grown up creating
white men made of ice either but, I’ve made a few messes. So the
evening culminated in the creation of our very own Frosty, complete with
eyes, nose, and a smile. Of course no Frosty in the Stan would be
complete without his own male Afghan scarf [also called a keffiyeh ].

Happy Holidays from the Stan!

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