All I Want for Christmas...

OH is coming home tomorrow and I will have him here for just over a fortnight. This is the first time he will have been home for more than 48 hours since August and I absolutely cannot wait. 


When he gets home we can start to do Christmas properly. At the moment we don't have the tree or any decorations up as we want to do it all together so Saturday will be filled with pine needles and tinsel (and probably arguments as well!). Pretty much all of the presents have been bought and are waiting for OH's superior wrapping talents as I get fed-up with it very quickly and don't exactly do a brilliant job. Christmas dinner this year is not just any Christmas dinner; it is coming courtesy of M&S and means I can pretty much just bung it in the oven and spend the time with OH and the kids instead of stressing in the kitchen.


I want to make the most of this Christmas as next year it will be DD's turn to spend it at her Dad's, so it won't feel quite right. There is also the possibility that OH may not be able to come home, depending on which submarine he gets drafted to so it could just be me, DS and the baby next year. Hopefully, with it being the baby's first Christmas he will be able to come home but if he is on patrol, it won't be possible.


Military personnel coming home for Christmas have been in the news a lot recently. Usually it is the Army or Royal Marines that get all of the press but the Royal Navy have been getting their faces on television a fair bit as of late. I know a couple of people that have been surprised to discover that the Navy go away for long deployments, just the same as the Army do!

Most of the country has probably seen this video by now but to link to the title of the post I thought I may as well share it. The crew of HMS Ocean thought they were going for a 7 week deployment but then the conflict in Libya happened and they ended up away for 214 days in total. This video was made (in the fine tradition of Royal Navy lip-synching videos) when they found out that they would definitely be home for Christmas.


Another video that I would like to share is this one:

and this one:
Military Wives Choir welcome home HMS Turbulent


Although I wouldn't recommend viewing the videos if you are wearing make-up and have to be somewhere quite soon! 


This year, I am getting what I want for Christmas and it looks like an awful lot of other military WAGs are getting their Christmas wish too. Plenty of our sailors, submariners, soldiers, Royal Marines and aircrew will be unable to come home however. Many families will be celebrating Christmas without one or more people and we all hope that they will come safely home next year.

'Wherever You Are' by the Military Wives Choir is available for pre-order now with proceeds going to the Royal British Legion and the SSAFA. Even if you have managed not to shed a tear at the lyrics and video, isn't it worth supporting two excellent causes AND stopping Simon Cowell having another number one?

To quote the marvellous Mrs. Doyle

"Go on, go on, go on, go on, go on"

You know you want to!