Happy to be Home

Hi everyone...I arrived home on December 15th after traveling for a ridiculously long time, but I must say it was worth every minute in my seat on the plane(s)! The fog in Halifax almost kept us from landing and I was looking around for the nearest parachute...luckily my dear Julia brought her magic wand to the airport to meet me and it worked to clear the fog long enough for us to land. I was met at the airport by Robert, Julia, my mom and my Aunt Deirdre and Uncle Ian, as well as a camera guy from CTV, and the footage of me arriving home was on the news that night. Julia ran into my arms, which was a better welcome than I could have hoped for! She stared at me for a long time, as if she couldn't believe it was really me. In the morning, Stephen woke up a little grumpy and after an initial few minutes of shyness he was all over me and wouldn't let me go! I was so relieved that they were both so easy to come home to!

The next night we had a wonderful party with live music - Louis on the guitar and Dave on the fiddle - it was like the Lower Deck in our house! I'm still not sure how I managed to keep myself awake, but I think adrenaline had a lot to do with it...had a great time with so many of our friends and family and it was amazing to see everyone again.

Monday morning Robert and I did another interview with Seamus on Canada AM, which was lots of fun...I am starting to feel like a bit of a celebrity for some reason...I'll give out autographs on request ;-) just kidding, but it's an amazing keepsake to have all these interviews and footage of this experience in our lives.

It is difficult to be here knowing that I have to go back over - I feel like I can't get involved in everything again because it will be that much harder to leave again. Nonetheless it is wonderful to be here, I have thoroughly enjoyed spending Christmas in my house with my family and I feel very lucky.

Must run...I've forgotten what it's like with kids demanding all my attention! Not much time for blogging...

til next time,
Love Lindsay

On the countdown!!!

Hello again everyone...

It is the first week of December, and we have Christmas decorations appearing everywhere in our rooms and at the hospital. All the doors of the rooms in our building have lights around them - usually I find flashing multicoloured lights pretty irritating but for some reason this year I just love them! Christmas will be very special this year. I am very excited to come home for a visit, but oddly enough at the same time feeling a little sad about leaving everyone and everything here over the holidays. It doesn't quite feel real yet that I am leaving KAF soon - a few times it has hit me and the emotion has almost overwhelmed me! I guess it's like any intense feeling, it's difficult to feel it completely...maybe part of it is that I want to save it for when I actually get to the airport in Halifax and see my family. To say that I can't wait is an incredible understatement.

It is a beautiful day outside today - still a bit of chill in the air and the ground is pretty muddy from two days of rain, but the sky is the bluest blue and it is a welcome relief from the cold wet days we've had lately. It's still warm enough to sit out in the sun these nice afternoons, but they're getting fewer and farther between...I'll have to bring some warm clothes back with me in January! Yesterday morning there was ice on the mud puddles, and the windows on the truck were completely frosted over. We found a window scraper finally, so we don't have to use our ID cards anymore :-) It's interesting driving through the camp not really able to see out the windows - the heat/defrost system in the truck doesn't work (did I mention our vehicles are piles of junk?) and when you pile six people inside for the ride, it doesn't take long for everything to fog up. Good thing the speed limit on camp is only 16 km/h...

We have now done over 270 cases in the OR here, with about two months to go in the tour. It feels good to have been here and had four months of experience - trauma is not as scary as it used to be. Don't get me wrong, it's still a bit unnerving to have someone come in with shrapnel through his neck and having a great deal of difficulty breathing, or to see a guy walk in with half his jaw hanging off, covered in blood from head to toe...the crazy things I have seen here will be with me forever!!! It feels bad to say that the worst is seeing the Canadian uniform on one of those stretchers - because the truth is it's hard to see anyone injured and in pain. I guess it just hits a little closer to home. The last ramp ceremony we had was a little different...I can remember standing out there earlier on in our tour and feeling the sweat dripping down my back, barely able to open my eyes because the sun was so bright...on this one I was wishing for gloves because my hands were nearly frozen, especially my right one after holding a salute for so long. But it was a special ramp all the same, for the RSM of the battle group and his driver, and a very sad one for the troops. And the more uncomfortable it is to stand out there on parade, in the heat or cold, the more it feels to me like we are paying our highest respects to these people who have paid the highest price.

One of the medics from the hospital was involved yesterday in a near miss vehicle-borne suicide bomb attack just outside Kandahar City...very frightening and it was extremely lucky that there were no significant injuries. This was the closest to home for us yet...I don't know this medic very well but I gave him a big hug yesterday, feeling very grateful that he is okay.

All this to say I am very much looking forward to getting on that plane to leave this place - but at the same time my thoughts will stay here with everyone who has shared this experience with me. I know there are a lot of people who feel the same way...those who have been here and those who will come after us.

Can't wait to see everyone at home - not long now!!! My love to all of you as always, and can't wait to have a rum n'eggnog (or two or three, what the heck, how about four) when I finally get there.

Bye for now...
Lindsay xoxoxo

Sweet Sixteen

I wanted to do this yesterday, but I ended up working a fourteen hour day so I didn't quite make it to the computer...I'm a day late, but I didn't forget about my evil stepdaughter's sixteenth birthday! Little Kaitlyn, who was only nine years old when I first met her, jumping up into her dad's arms, is now sixteen. All I have to say is Kaitlyn, I love you, and I'm sorry we are not in better touch and we don't get to spend much time together - you are a beautiful girl and you are very special to me - keep growing and learning and changing and you will continue to make us all proud...

Happy, happy birthday!!!! I hope you had a great day yesterday.

Lots of love
Lindsay (evil stepmother)