To do, don't do lists

Everybody has to-do lists. But with the arrival of our airborne trooper back to the U.S., our daily to-do list has changed dramatically:

• Don't have to keep a countdown calendar (On Oct. 31, the calendar showed he had 71, 63, 57 and 12 days to go based on what we had been hearing. In fact he had three days left);
• Don't have to keep a clock set to Baghdad time;
• Don't have to watch CNN;
• Don't have to check about a dozen different Iraq websites;
• Don't have to read Stars & Stripes or the Fayetteville Observor on a daily basis;
• Don't have to write a daily letter or make a weekly video newsletter;
• No more shopping for care packages;
• No more manning the telephone seven days a week;
• Don't have to check Baghdad weather (It was always hot);
• No more cruising around Baghdad via Google Earth;
• Don't have to compare Baghdad news stories with a Baghdad street map.

In short, we have a 12-month vacation ahead of us and we are much relieved.