Christmas 2007...

I was a little apprehensive, but today has turned out to be a pretty good day. The measures that the military had taken in the two previous days made a huge impact and as a result there were no significant attacks on the green zone. I resisted the temptation of laying in bed all day and went into the office around noon. I am glad I did because when I got there I realized that the Iraqi restaurants were not open (there are very few places in the IZ where Iraqi's can eat) so I quickly went to my dining facility to pick up box lunches. It was kinda neat because I took back a traditional Christmas dinner which included turkey, stuffing, green beans, corn, green beans, and of course pumpkin pie. We all sat around and ate our lunches out of white styrofoam, but it was pretty cool.

This evening we went to the main dining facility at the Presidential Palace. I don't go here too often because I honestly want to keep it as a bit of a special treat, but this places does holidays very well - as you can see from the picture above. Tonight I passed on the traditional dinner and went for the lobster, prime rib, shrimp and sweet potatoes. I twas nice to sit with friends and enjoy the holiday music and sip on non-alcoholic champagne.

This was not the best Christmas that I have ever had, but it did have the potential to be the worst; but I wouldn't let it - I just keep looking forward. Tomorrow I will go out into the red zone again. I enjoy these trips, not because of the danger, but because they are an opportunity to get more involved; to become part of a bigger solution.

Well, its getting late here and so I'll wind down.