Change of Command

We've had a lot of changes lately- but the only one that got a ceremony was Todd's change of command yesterday. Your dad has been looking forward to this new job for a while. He was told by his boss that he would be leading this battalion at the end of the month and has been looking forward to the challenge. We'll get into the difference between being in charge and being a leader later on in your lives....

So Colonel Gentile called and emailed after Todd got back from Iraq. With my usual charm and helpfulness, I replied to his emails saying that I had no idea where your father was and that the reports of his return had been greatly exaggerated. I'd keep checking around and would let him know in a month or two. Unfortunately, smart man that he was, he had already been told by independent sources that Todd had not only come back from Iraq but was returning to work after the much promised three weeks of leave. So he called your Dad's cell phone and told him all about the new job as a way to get him excited to come back to work.

Which leads us to yesterday... A change of command is usually a short ceremony where the outgoing person hands command over to the new guy. Simple, straight forward. And then, if it's a good ceremony, there are snacks. And with us involved- there are always snacks. Todd had told me that he wanted the girls there, so I told my parents about the ceremony and they wonderfully volunteered to come down the night before and guard the kitchen while I baked up some goodies and help me with some man on man defence during the change of command.

Thank goodness.

Not that anything big happened, but Granne held a squirmy-now-walking Jordan who wanted to show off her new skills, Dad whispered in Grace's ear to keep her entertained and engaged and I had Eleanor. All of the kids looked great in their Sunday best and Eleanor started the event off by demanding I get off her chair. Loudly. Then as Granne and Grandbob sat in the other seats, Eleanor started pushing on my legs and vigorously telling me that she wanted her seat. She did eventually settle down on my lap during what I'm sure was a very nice speech by Colonel Gentile, but I don't remember much other than thinking, "Oh I really, really, really hope he has kids and understands."

To tell the truth, the part of the day that surprised me the most was when Todd and the rest of the "official party" came in, not one of the girls let out a "Daddy!" and went flying over to him. When I asked him later what he would have done, he said he would have just put them up on his lap until it was his time to speak. Speaking of which... I missed most of that. The outgoing gentleman started his speech by thanking his wife and family for their support. As soon as his wife received her flowers, Eleanor announced in her best big girl LOUD voice, "I go potty, Mommy!" and we raced out of their as fast as we could. And yes, we made it.

As we came back out of the building, I could hear Todd speaking (missed all of that, too) and saying, "if you'll just bear with me, I'll speak for just another minute until my wife gets back. Class act that I am, I shouted out, "I can hear you- go ahead!" He said the prerequisite nice comments about support, etc and a nice Marine gave me flowers. Grace swiped them. The ceremony didn't last much longer after that and we all went in for snacks. Nothing else of note happened except when we tried to leave and one of the girls set off the alarm on the fire door.

Don't think we'll be visiting Daddy at the office any time soon.