Today is definitely a much happier Independence Day than I was having a year ago. Woke up in bed with my wife as our three-year-old climbed into bed with us. Planning on a relaxing day with the family. A year ago on this day, I was up well before dawn, moving all my gear out into the parking lot of the barracks at Ft Bliss, awaiting drug-sniffing dogs to inspect the bags prior to a day-long flight to Kuwait. I blogged about it once I hit Kuwait,here. Anyway, I hope everybody who is spending this day away from their family is as lucky as me, and gets to be home with their friends and family next year.