A CHENG's Life: March Madness, Baby

And I'm not talking about the basketball.

I'm back...2 months in Newport, a tiny hotel room, then Norfolk...it's over. Well, sorta. I'm back, and now I'm gone. Yes, that's the life of a Surface Warrior.

I drove all day from Virginia on Wednesday. I've spent 3 1/2 great days with the family. Madaline has mostly ignored me and stayed on Joy's leg. But Emma and Aiden especially have just been attached to me. It's been wonderful. We all lived in the moment, ate dinners out, had grand adventures in state parks, playgrounds, tempted ridiculous winds at the beach, all in the name of togetherness and family fun. I've loved these few days at home.

A lighter moment at one of our favorite parks on Fernandina Beach, Amelia Island

So that brings us to a new reality. I checked into my new command Friday. I was promoted to Lieutenant Commander. That's cool. But come tomorrow, I'm underway and jumping on that horse running full speed; we're gone several weeks right off the bat, and full-bore into "work-ups" for the big D---deployment. That'll be later. I'll say more when I can.

Wish me well. USS HUE CITY is off tomorrow, and by week's end I'll be the new Chief Engineer. One of the neat things here is that I'm relieving one of my best friends, and godfather to our daughter. At least I know who to blame if everything's not squared away!

Pray for my family. We've had a couple of good months leading up to me leaving at the end of January. The separation has been tough for my kids, especially Aiden. As I alluded to, 2012 will be a busy operational year for HUE CITY, and there will be plenty of long separations in the coming 18 months---including the kids' first FULL deployment at cognizant ages. Joy has been a rock and will continue to guide this family in my absence, but I'm sure it'll be an exciting, but also challenging tour for most us.

Alright, I'm outta here---for a bit. See you on the flip side.