THE wait to end all waits.....

Hello everybody,

As you can see from the title; I'm still waiting to hear the outcome of my f2f which was 11 days ago now!Waiting is not a good occupation at all - it destroys the brain! Since I haven't been able to get up before midday at any time this week, I don't hink anymore brain addling is required to be honest....

I know that they said 3 - 4 weeks before we hear but that doesn't stop all of us (on facebook and wdwip) from checking our e-mails etc every 5 seconds and speculating along the lines of 'Oh there were so many of us / I'll never get the job / Does registering again and again on the Yummy website mean we're not in? etc etc

Although when I got the e-mail saying we have to register on the new Yummy website I was a bit confused cos we then had to apply through the website despite only just having come back from our f2fs! I hope we all get it, I can't bare to think of some of us getting to go and others not, that would be too cruel to think about..... Still I have plenty to keep me busy, especially uni work - nasty 3rd year stealing all of my free time!

Also, the current event that is on everyone's minds is THE US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS. That's right, America goes to the polls tomorrow! We'll be getting live coverage from midnight to 6am on TV over here and I think a fair few people will be staying up to watch it. As for me, I'm undecided: Obama or McCain? They both have their merits..... By this time tomorrow it'll all be over :-)

I'll be back with another update as soon as there is news (or maybe even if there isn't!)

Until then, in light of the fact that it's Rememberance Sunday this week, I'll leave you with this:
Stay safe, all our boys and girls who are so far from home. We haven't forgotten you!

The embers glowed softly, and in their dim light,
I gazed round the room and I cherished the sight.
My wife was asleep, her head on my chest,
My daughter beside me, angelic in rest.
Outside the snow fell, a blanket of white,
Transforming the yard to a winter delight.

The sparkling lights in the tree I believe,
Completed the magic that was Christmas Eve.
My eyelids were heavy, my breathing was deep,
Secure and surrounded by love I would sleep.
In perfect contentment, or so it would seem,
So I slumbered, perhaps I started to dream.

The sound wasn't loud, and it wasn't too near,
But I opened my eyes when it tickled my ear.
Perhaps just a cough, I didn't quite know,
Then the sure sound of footsteps outside in the snow.
My soul gave a tremble, I struggled to hear,
And I crept to the door just to see who was near.
Standing out in the cold and the dark of the night,
A lone figure stood, his face weary and tight.

A soldier, I puzzled, some twenty years old,
Perhaps a Private, huddled here in the cold.
Alone in the dark, he looked up and smiled,
Standing watch over me, and my wife and my child.
"What are you doing?" I asked without fear,
"Come in this moment, it's freezing out here!
Put down your pack, brush the snow from your sleeve,
You should be at home on a cold Christmas Eve!"

For barely a moment I saw his eyes shift,
Away from the cold and the snow blown in drifts..
To the window that danced with a warm fire's light
Then he sighed and he said "Its really all right,
I'm out here by choice. I'm here every night.
It's my duty to stand at the front of the line,
That separates you from the darkest of times.

"No one had to ask or beg or implore me,
I'm proud to stand here like my fathers before me.
My Gramps died at Vimy on a day in December,"
Then he sighed, "That's a Christmas 'Gram always remembers.
My dad stood his watch in the streets of Arnhem,
And now it is my turn and so, here I am.

"I've not seen my own son in more than a while,
But my wife sends me pictures, he's sure got a nice smile."
Then he bent and he carefully pulled from his bag,
The red, white and blue.. the Union Jack

"I can live through the cold and the being alone,
Away from my family, my house and my home.
I can stand at my post through the rain and the sleet,
I can sleep in a foxhole with little to eat.
I can carry the weight of killing another,
Or lay down my life for my sister of brother..
We stand at the front against any and all,
To ensure, for all time, that this flag will not fall.

"So go back inside," he said, "harbor no fright,
Your family is waiting and I'll be all right."
"But isn't there something I can do, at the least,
Give you money," I asked, "or prepare you a feast?
It seems all too little for all that you've done,
For being away from your wife, daughters or sons."

Then his eye welled a tear that held no regret,
"Just tell us you love us, and never forget,
To fight for our rights back at home while we're gone;
To stand your own watch, no matter how long.
For when we come home, either standing or dead,
To know you remember we fought and we bled.
Is payment enough, and with that we will trust,
That we mattered to you as you mattered to us."