“Sales reached the highest mark in 10 months and are 34 percent above the cyclical low point in mid-2010,” Yun said. “We’ve seen healthy gains in contract activity, so it looks like more people are realizing the great opportunity that exists in today’s market for buyers with long-term plans.”

The final withdrawal was the starkest of contrasts to the start of the war, which began before dawn on March 20, 2003. That morning, an airstrike in southern Baghdad, where Saddam Hussein was believed to be hiding, marked the opening shot of the famed "shock and awe" bombardment.



U.S. and allied ground forces then stormed from Kuwait toward the capital, hurtling north across southern Iraq's featureless deserts.



The last convoy of heavily armored personnel carriers, known as MRAPs, left the staging base at Camp Adder in southern Iraq in Sunday's early hours. They slipped out under cover of darkness and strict secrecy to prevent any final attacks. The 500 soldiers didn't even tell their Iraqi comrades on the base they were leaving.



The attack never materialized. The fear, though, spoke volumes about the country they left behind - shattered, still dangerous and containing a good number of people who still see Americans not as the ally who helped them end Saddam's dictatorship, but as an enemy.



About 110 vehicles made the last trip from Camp Adder to the "berm" in Kuwait, the long mound of earth over which tens of thousands of American troops charged into Iraq at the start of the war.



The roughly five-hour drive was uneventful, with the exception of a few vehicle malfunctions.



Once they crossed into Kuwait, there was time for a brief celebration as the soldiers piled out of the cramped and formidable-looking MRAPs. A bear hug, some whooping, fist bumps and fist pumps.



The war that began eight years and nine months earlier cost nearly 4,500 American and well more than 100,000 Iraqi lives and $800 billion from the U.S. Treasury. The bitterly divisive conflict left Iraq shattered and struggling to recover. For the United States, two central questions remain unanswered: whether it was all worth it, and whether the new government the Americans leave behind will remain a steadfast U.S. ally or drift into Iran's orbit.



But the last soldiers out were looking ahead, mostly, and not back. They spoke eagerly of awaiting family reunions - some of them in time for Christmas - and longing for Western "civilization" and especially the meals that await them back home.



In the last days at Camp Adder, the remaining few hundred troops tied up all the loose ends of a war, or at least those that could be tied up.



The soldiers at the base spoke often of the "lasts" - the last guard duty, the last meal in Iraq, the last patrol briefing. Even the last Friday was special until it was eclipsed by the last Saturday.

According to the latest market report from RealtyTrac, 24,739 Florida properties received a foreclosure filing during the month of November, the nation’s second highest total.



At 22.8 percent, Lender Processing Services (LPS) says Florida has the highest ratio on non-current mortgage loans in the nation – including both foreclosures and delinquencies.



On average, it takes about two years to foreclose on a home in Florida. The Office of State Courts Administrator, Research and Data reports that as of June 30, 2011, there were 180,180 inactive foreclosure cases and 196,212 active foreclosure cases pending in circuit courts in Florida.



Justice Canady’s order states that cases already referred to or pending mediation as of December 19, 2011 will run their course through the program, but no additional cases will be accepted.

The dates for the 2011 Sales Tax Holiday are Aug. 12 through 14. This year, no sales tax will be collected on sales of clothing, footwear and certain accessories selling for $75 or less, or on certain school supplies selling for $15 or less. Books are not included in this year's sales tax holiday.

The first F-35A production aircraft that will be delivered to Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., later this year takes off from Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base May 6. The jet will go to Edwards AFB, Calif., to support developmental testing shortly after the Air Force takes delivery. As the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the 33rd Fighter Wing is responsible for F-35 A/B/C (Joint Strike Fighter) pilot and maintainer training for the Marine Corps, the Navy, the Air Force and, in the future, at least eight coalition partners. Initially, 59 aircraft and three flying squadrons, one for each service/aircraft variant, will be established at Eglin.