After fifteen glorious days of leave with my husband and family, I am back in the IZ, my home away from home. I noticed a few minor changes - a bunker here, a chain link fence there, but the biggest change is the new buzzword here: RIP/TOA. This acronym is just the Army's way of saying that our tour is winding down and we're now preparing to transition to the next cycle of folks. It feels great!

R&R was wonderful. In addition to our Indiana activities, Mike and I spent five days in Gatlinburg, Tennessee in a cabin up in the mountains. The weather cooperated nicely and we visited our favorite spots in town, tried a few new restaurants, and spent about a day with two of our good friends. We are also the proud owners of a fondue pot, which has been a fantasy of mine since childhood. I refuse to believe that fondue parties are out of style!

My folks threw an open house for us so that we could see all of the people that we knew we wouldn't get a chance to visit. Our two families have the amazing ability to mesh as if they've known each other for years, and it's a wonderful atmosphere for us!

We made two school visits, one to my mother's school and another to a class of second graders who had sent me care packages. Some of the younger children asked amazingly thoughtful questions for their ages, and I had to stay on my toes, trying my best to answer honestly but in a way they would understand.

Pictures are forthcoming (particularly of our house - Mike is screening them now). And now we're just "running through the tape" (as one of my ROTC instructors used to say) and looking forward to the beginning of the next race!