Wow, I didn't realize it had been so long between blog posts! I clearly have been a slacker, but in my defense I was busy packing not only for our week long trip to Cape Cod, but also for our 3 month stay in FL.
We had a great time in Cape Cod and I've quickly realized that Emma's feet will not touch the ground the entire time we are in FL unless I make her as her grandpa picks her up any time she makes a peep and carries her around the house. I can tell she is spoiled rotten, but she's so darn cute that you can't even blame her.
Our friend Emily braved flying alone with her 16 month old son and enjoyed some time on the Cape with us and then we drove into Boston for some sight seeing. Can I tell you that we had gorgeous weather? Emily may have thought it was a little chilly, but I love the fall and am hating this hot weather in Florida already.
The day after we all left the Cape my dad's lady friend and I left with Emma to drive to Florida. Yes, I said drive. Thank goodness for the swagger wagon because you need a lot of crap for 3 months away from home with a baby. Of course there is always the slightest possibility that I may have overpacked....plus we had Beast with us as he's going to live with my sister. Luckily a chihuahua does not take up much room.
I cannot even think of any funny stories about our drive as I've tried to mostly block it out. It wasn't bad. Just long. 3 days in the van with an infant gave me a good idea what pcs'ing will be like and I've already told Paul he's going to have to drive one vehicle out ahead of time and fly back to drive with us or we'll have to ship our other car because there is no way I could make that drive in the car alone. Em was good in the morning, but was bored and lonely in the afternoon and I usually had to sit in back with her to keep her from fussy (did I mention she's spoiled?). My poor little girl is a trooper though. As soon as we'd stop for a break and get her out of the car she was all big smiles. Happy baby.
We've already seen our friend Jen T. who came over for dinner last night and got to experience my dad, his lady friend, and another couple in all their wine drinking glory. I think Jen is going to Napa with them next year. lol
Em has been swimming and LOVED it as I expected. I got her a little baby float raft and she kicked herself all over the place. Of course my dad put her in the pool when I was in the house (adults were present in the pool) and she was in a cloth diaper. And she pooped. Good times. I think she weighed about 10 more pounds when I picked her up to get her out. Holy chunky monkey.
We've also seen my mom twice and she fawns over Em, too.
After the last few weeks of gluttony I've had I am off to the Y tomorrow to see about a membership. I cannot continue to be this heavy. I know I say that repeatedly, but something has to change. My attitude has to change.
I am looking forward to catching up with all my old friends this fall even though it's hot and un-fall like.
Hope all my northern friends are enjoying apple picking and apple cider donuts! :)
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Friday, September 9, 2011
6 month well baby
Em has had quite the 2 weeks at the base clinic. I took her last week because she seemed so congested. Of course the pedi didn't think anything was wrong with her and just told me to use the humidifier and to put her bed at a slant. I had been using the humidifier so I stuck 2 books under the one end of the crib (I chose a woman's daily bible and the daily gratitude book) and she seems much better. At that appointment she weighed 18lbs 9oz....a week later and my chunky monkey is up to 18lbs 14oz and is 27 inches long. She seems soooo heavy and her thighs look like chicken wings.
And she is funny! We've been side nursing a lot because it's nice to lay there and relax while she nurses and I like to snuggle with her. Funny gal rolls onto her back when she is full and has started smacking her lips. I guess the boobie juice is lip smacking good! It makes me laugh every time. And Em is quite the laugher as well. She giggles at everything and loves when mommy makes silly faces and kisses her neck and tickles her.
She also has a mind of her own and is quite stubborn. She had shots yesterday and had zero interest in solid foods today so to thrwart my attempts to feed her solids she would suck in her lower lip as soon as she saw the spoon. FYI you can't get the spin in when the lower lip is in the way. Another mommy friend told me her son didn't eat solids for 3 days after his shots so I feel better and am just chalking it up to her being out of sorts.
She is terrified of the vaccum cleaner and hair dryers. I knew about the vacuum cleaner, but didn't know about the hair dryer until we went to the salon today so I could get a hair cut. Another stylist turned on a blow dryer and Emma screamed like someone was coming after us with a chainsaw.
She can sit up now on her own.
I am missing Paul all the time. I love watching Em show off for him when we skype. I realized that we are almost halfway through September and 2 weeks after that we'll hit the 6 month mark of Paul's deployment. Okay, it won't be quite 6 months, but in my mind it is. I finally booked our Turks & Caicos trip and I could not be more excited! Even though it is way more money than we'd ever spend on a vacation normally it will be so worth it to have that family time together. And it will be much fun for Paul to get to take Emma swimming. Paul asked why I scheduled our vacation during the NFL play offs and requested to be allowed to watch football the Sunday we are there. I said no problem, he could stay in the room, and watch football while mommy goes to the spa! haha
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
And she is funny! We've been side nursing a lot because it's nice to lay there and relax while she nurses and I like to snuggle with her. Funny gal rolls onto her back when she is full and has started smacking her lips. I guess the boobie juice is lip smacking good! It makes me laugh every time. And Em is quite the laugher as well. She giggles at everything and loves when mommy makes silly faces and kisses her neck and tickles her.
She also has a mind of her own and is quite stubborn. She had shots yesterday and had zero interest in solid foods today so to thrwart my attempts to feed her solids she would suck in her lower lip as soon as she saw the spoon. FYI you can't get the spin in when the lower lip is in the way. Another mommy friend told me her son didn't eat solids for 3 days after his shots so I feel better and am just chalking it up to her being out of sorts.
She is terrified of the vaccum cleaner and hair dryers. I knew about the vacuum cleaner, but didn't know about the hair dryer until we went to the salon today so I could get a hair cut. Another stylist turned on a blow dryer and Emma screamed like someone was coming after us with a chainsaw.
She can sit up now on her own.
I am missing Paul all the time. I love watching Em show off for him when we skype. I realized that we are almost halfway through September and 2 weeks after that we'll hit the 6 month mark of Paul's deployment. Okay, it won't be quite 6 months, but in my mind it is. I finally booked our Turks & Caicos trip and I could not be more excited! Even though it is way more money than we'd ever spend on a vacation normally it will be so worth it to have that family time together. And it will be much fun for Paul to get to take Emma swimming. Paul asked why I scheduled our vacation during the NFL play offs and requested to be allowed to watch football the Sunday we are there. I said no problem, he could stay in the room, and watch football while mommy goes to the spa! haha
Hope everyone has a good weekend!
Monday, September 5, 2011
2 years
I've been a blog slacker. Life has been crazy hectic lately and I've been neglectful. Here's a quick recap:
I had an awful cold for a week. Every day I had to remind myself it could be worse because I was exhausted and miserable. My worst fear of Paul being gone was getting sick and yet I survived. I give so much credit to single moms and I appreciate Paul so much more. Life will be so much easier when he gets home.
Em and I went to Dallas to see my friend Katie, her hubs, and 2 kiddos. Katie and I have been friends since 7th grade! I was super nervous about such a long flight with Em, but she was a trooper and did well. I have realized that flying Jet Blue has ruined me for other airlines as I kept looking around for my tv and wondered why I wasn't getting any free snacks!
It averaged 108 degrees the entire time we were there and although Katie told me before hand that it was a dry heat I quickly realized that is something people from TX tell their friends so that they'll come visit. It was like being on the sun!
I also got a feather in my hair and rocked some cowboy boots. FYI cowboy boots=also hot. Not just hot as in we looked dang good, but hot as in causing my whole body to sweat. When Katie and I first went downstairs in our boots I believe David's response was "You guys aren't really going out like that, are you?" And if you are a Friends fan then you've seen the episode where Monice buys the expensive boots she can wear with everything and you can well imagine how our night went.
Em also went swimming for the first time and LOVED it! I also got to see my old BRLS friend Christine who I hadn't seen since I was 21 (um that is 13 years)! All in all we had a great time and I can't wait to see them again.
Being in TX we missed Hurricane Irene completely although we lucked out in our area.
Back from TX and in a mad rush to kept the house ready to be gone to FL for 3 months. Squeezed in a Stroller Strides class and woke up sore in places I didn't know it was possible to be sore in. College football season started and since Paul is gone I got to outfit Em in support of my team.
Today is my 2 year anniversary. I feel very lonely tonight and am missing Paul tons. I can't wait for him to get home. When Em and I got home from having lunch at our friend's I found beautiful flowers waiting for me. Even from Afghanistan Paul knows how to make me feel loved and special. How lucky am I!
And that's where we're at. This week we are wrapping up life here and packing and getting ready to head first for a family vacation on Cape Cod and then heading south till Paul gets home.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. :)
I had an awful cold for a week. Every day I had to remind myself it could be worse because I was exhausted and miserable. My worst fear of Paul being gone was getting sick and yet I survived. I give so much credit to single moms and I appreciate Paul so much more. Life will be so much easier when he gets home.
Em and I went to Dallas to see my friend Katie, her hubs, and 2 kiddos. Katie and I have been friends since 7th grade! I was super nervous about such a long flight with Em, but she was a trooper and did well. I have realized that flying Jet Blue has ruined me for other airlines as I kept looking around for my tv and wondered why I wasn't getting any free snacks!
It averaged 108 degrees the entire time we were there and although Katie told me before hand that it was a dry heat I quickly realized that is something people from TX tell their friends so that they'll come visit. It was like being on the sun!
I also got a feather in my hair and rocked some cowboy boots. FYI cowboy boots=also hot. Not just hot as in we looked dang good, but hot as in causing my whole body to sweat. When Katie and I first went downstairs in our boots I believe David's response was "You guys aren't really going out like that, are you?" And if you are a Friends fan then you've seen the episode where Monice buys the expensive boots she can wear with everything and you can well imagine how our night went.
Em also went swimming for the first time and LOVED it! I also got to see my old BRLS friend Christine who I hadn't seen since I was 21 (um that is 13 years)! All in all we had a great time and I can't wait to see them again.
 |
| at Jasper's (thanks Most Eligible Dallas) |
Being in TX we missed Hurricane Irene completely although we lucked out in our area.
Back from TX and in a mad rush to kept the house ready to be gone to FL for 3 months. Squeezed in a Stroller Strides class and woke up sore in places I didn't know it was possible to be sore in. College football season started and since Paul is gone I got to outfit Em in support of my team.
 |
| Go Noles!!!!!! |
Today is my 2 year anniversary. I feel very lonely tonight and am missing Paul tons. I can't wait for him to get home. When Em and I got home from having lunch at our friend's I found beautiful flowers waiting for me. Even from Afghanistan Paul knows how to make me feel loved and special. How lucky am I!
And that's where we're at. This week we are wrapping up life here and packing and getting ready to head first for a family vacation on Cape Cod and then heading south till Paul gets home.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy Labor Day weekend. :)
28 Aug-4 Sept (Paul post)
August 28
Another Sunday which mean another week down and 20ish weeks left. I made another trip to the bizarre today. I decided to pick up a few Christmas presents and fill a request for something that is Afghanistan-like. I think I may have to avoid going back, because I love to wheel and deal and it is actually in their culture to haggle. In fact it is very rude to not try to talk them down. Our house appears to have survived the hurricane with the exception of a power outage. Our friends that housesit for us definitely hold up their end of the bargain. Today was filled with recovery from my late night (it’s sad that staying up to 1230 requires a recovery day), shopping, laundry, and relaxing. I have a lot of reading to do for my course, so I’ll be forcing myself to study. I want to take my next test around September 7. Let’s hope this next week goes by as fast as this one did.
August 29
I’m starting to realize the end of each month is going to bore me to death. It’s nice to have a job where you know what you have to do each month and having a deadline of the 25th of each month to do it. The good news of that is you can work your own schedule as long as you get the job done. Of course the negative about it is that there is a natural dead space between the 25th and the 1st. It does give me time to take care of little odds and ends and to study my military course.
I finally went to the corpsman about my shoulder. It has been bothering me for about three weeks. I was trying to just rest it but that didn’t work. When I walked in the first question he asked me was “How long has it been bothering you?” My reply of three weeks got a good rolling of the eyes and being told I should have come in early. When I answered that I was scared he would tell me I couldn’t work out his reply was simply that was a possibility. After examining me it was determined that I either strained a muscle in my shoulder or tore my rotator cuff. He gave me some Motrin (like any good military doctor), an ice/heat pack, and told me to come back in a few days when the Motrin runs out. Funny thing is that the gel ice/heat pack only works if you have a refrigerator or microwave and I have neither. I was told I could still workout, but no shoulders and don’t do anything that hurts. Most of us in the military joke about always being prescribed Motrin, but for the most part the pain has gone away. That is apparently a good sign that I only strained it and the inflammation was subsiding. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Fitness Update: I waited for a couple days before I said it out loud, but I am finally under 200 lbs. I’m 198 to be exact which means I have lost 17 pounds since I got here. I don’t think I look much different, but a couple people said I looked like I dropped a couple. I hit a plateau at 205 before I took my binge week at Bagram. After reading a couple fitness sites I found out that if you are really working out hard and stop losing that time off can help because your body can actually recover. Maybe that’s what I needed.
August 30
Nothing really to talk about today. Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow.
August 31
Last night or early this morning I woke up to an unusual sound. It was the sound of rain. I hadn’t seen more than a faint drizzle since I have been here. Apparently it rained pretty hard last night and that was the first rain in over four months. It was such a nice feeling to walk outside and have that crisp feel in the air after a rain. It also cut the dust way down and cooled the place off. It was a nice morning and day to be outside.
I spent a lot of today getting ready for the month of September. I’ll have a pretty busy first half of the month, but if all goes well my end of the month shouldn’t be too bad. I have my audits to do and need to get ready for a visit from one of our DCMA North Afghanistan leadership later this month. Nothing too major to be ready for that visit besides making sure a room is ready for her.
As I look at my watch I see that today is August 31. I have been gone from home for exactly two months. It has been a difficult two months, but between Skype, receiving pictures and videos, and talking to Jenn it hasn’t been nearly as bad as it could be. Emma is getting so big and strong. I’ve watched her eat her first solid food. She has really started to interact with me over the computer and I think that helps me in a big way. Jenn is preparing to go to Florida and will be there the rest of the year. Although I know we have good friends and she has a great support system in Massachusetts, I think I’ll feel even more comfortable with her in Florida. Emma will get to spend all kinds of time with her three living grandparents and one of her great grandmothers. I’m sure Emma will get all kinds of spoiled while she is there. I guess I’ll have to come home and break all the bad habits she forms while she is there. I think the long visit will be good for everyone involved. Two months down and a little over four months to go.
September 1
Today was a rainy, wet, and chilly day. It’s very unusual to see mud puddles all over the ground. The ground is so dry and hard that the water doesn’t absorb into the ground. I was able to overcome the laziness that a day like this brings. I got some work done and had a pretty good workout. The tent that holds all the cardio equipment was super humid. It felt like I was running through a hot, humid Florida swamp.
Today at dinner three of us were sitting around talking about how we met our wives. Two of us are married and the third guy was curious about when we knew we were going to marry our wives. A conversation like that really makes me feel lucky to have met Jenn. I can’t think of one thing I would change about her or us. We are a perfect match. I’m lucky that we had a mutual friend that knew we would click. And click we did.
August 2 & 3
I skipped writing about August 2, because all I would have done is mentioned that it was steak and lobster for dinner which means another week is over. As for August 3, the big addition was the start of college football season. I’m not a big college football fan, because the start of their season really just means one more week until the NFL season. That being said it’s nice to have something else to help this place feel like home. Of course the time change makes it a little difficult to enjoy. Games didn’t really start until almost 9pm here. Just like with the NFL games, I’ll get to see the beginning of the early games and the end of the latest games. I’ll have to adjust my sleep schedule when certain teams (Buccaneers) and games are on TV. I know Jenn is super excited because her Seminoles are playing. She has threatened to dress my poor innocent daughter in an FSU cheerleading outfit. I hope my baby doesn’t have to suffer through that.
August 4
It’s official. I am 33% done with my deployment. Being a third done is a nice milestone. My day was productive filled with actual work along with doing laundry. I worked out as usual, but am definitely still feeling the pain in my shoulder. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so we’ll see what he says. I’m worried the answer will be not working out which means I could lose a lot of the progress I have made since I arrived. If they think it’s a rotator cuff issue then I’ll probably get sent to someone else. I guess I should have gone to the doctor for it a few weeks ago when it happened. I’ll never learn.
Nineteen weeks until I’m home and will be with my lovely wife and beautiful daughter. To me I thought that sounded like a short time. Jenn pointed out that she was on bedrest for 20 weeks and it felt like forever. Now the race to 50%!
Jenn did dress my poor Emma in Seminole outfits for the first day of college football season. Although it sickened me a little, my little girl was as cute as she could be.
FITNESS UPDATE: I think I need to be happy with being 200lbs. As soon as I told everyone I got under 200, I went back to 202lbs. I feel good and way stronger, so I can live with that. A friend of mine asked me what my fitness goal was and it’s simply being a good example for Emma. I want her to grow up healthy and active and that won’t happen if her parents don’t show her how.
Another Sunday which mean another week down and 20ish weeks left. I made another trip to the bizarre today. I decided to pick up a few Christmas presents and fill a request for something that is Afghanistan-like. I think I may have to avoid going back, because I love to wheel and deal and it is actually in their culture to haggle. In fact it is very rude to not try to talk them down. Our house appears to have survived the hurricane with the exception of a power outage. Our friends that housesit for us definitely hold up their end of the bargain. Today was filled with recovery from my late night (it’s sad that staying up to 1230 requires a recovery day), shopping, laundry, and relaxing. I have a lot of reading to do for my course, so I’ll be forcing myself to study. I want to take my next test around September 7. Let’s hope this next week goes by as fast as this one did.
August 29
I’m starting to realize the end of each month is going to bore me to death. It’s nice to have a job where you know what you have to do each month and having a deadline of the 25th of each month to do it. The good news of that is you can work your own schedule as long as you get the job done. Of course the negative about it is that there is a natural dead space between the 25th and the 1st. It does give me time to take care of little odds and ends and to study my military course.
I finally went to the corpsman about my shoulder. It has been bothering me for about three weeks. I was trying to just rest it but that didn’t work. When I walked in the first question he asked me was “How long has it been bothering you?” My reply of three weeks got a good rolling of the eyes and being told I should have come in early. When I answered that I was scared he would tell me I couldn’t work out his reply was simply that was a possibility. After examining me it was determined that I either strained a muscle in my shoulder or tore my rotator cuff. He gave me some Motrin (like any good military doctor), an ice/heat pack, and told me to come back in a few days when the Motrin runs out. Funny thing is that the gel ice/heat pack only works if you have a refrigerator or microwave and I have neither. I was told I could still workout, but no shoulders and don’t do anything that hurts. Most of us in the military joke about always being prescribed Motrin, but for the most part the pain has gone away. That is apparently a good sign that I only strained it and the inflammation was subsiding. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
Fitness Update: I waited for a couple days before I said it out loud, but I am finally under 200 lbs. I’m 198 to be exact which means I have lost 17 pounds since I got here. I don’t think I look much different, but a couple people said I looked like I dropped a couple. I hit a plateau at 205 before I took my binge week at Bagram. After reading a couple fitness sites I found out that if you are really working out hard and stop losing that time off can help because your body can actually recover. Maybe that’s what I needed.
August 30
Nothing really to talk about today. Maybe something interesting will happen tomorrow.
August 31
Last night or early this morning I woke up to an unusual sound. It was the sound of rain. I hadn’t seen more than a faint drizzle since I have been here. Apparently it rained pretty hard last night and that was the first rain in over four months. It was such a nice feeling to walk outside and have that crisp feel in the air after a rain. It also cut the dust way down and cooled the place off. It was a nice morning and day to be outside.
I spent a lot of today getting ready for the month of September. I’ll have a pretty busy first half of the month, but if all goes well my end of the month shouldn’t be too bad. I have my audits to do and need to get ready for a visit from one of our DCMA North Afghanistan leadership later this month. Nothing too major to be ready for that visit besides making sure a room is ready for her.
As I look at my watch I see that today is August 31. I have been gone from home for exactly two months. It has been a difficult two months, but between Skype, receiving pictures and videos, and talking to Jenn it hasn’t been nearly as bad as it could be. Emma is getting so big and strong. I’ve watched her eat her first solid food. She has really started to interact with me over the computer and I think that helps me in a big way. Jenn is preparing to go to Florida and will be there the rest of the year. Although I know we have good friends and she has a great support system in Massachusetts, I think I’ll feel even more comfortable with her in Florida. Emma will get to spend all kinds of time with her three living grandparents and one of her great grandmothers. I’m sure Emma will get all kinds of spoiled while she is there. I guess I’ll have to come home and break all the bad habits she forms while she is there. I think the long visit will be good for everyone involved. Two months down and a little over four months to go.
September 1
Today was a rainy, wet, and chilly day. It’s very unusual to see mud puddles all over the ground. The ground is so dry and hard that the water doesn’t absorb into the ground. I was able to overcome the laziness that a day like this brings. I got some work done and had a pretty good workout. The tent that holds all the cardio equipment was super humid. It felt like I was running through a hot, humid Florida swamp.
Today at dinner three of us were sitting around talking about how we met our wives. Two of us are married and the third guy was curious about when we knew we were going to marry our wives. A conversation like that really makes me feel lucky to have met Jenn. I can’t think of one thing I would change about her or us. We are a perfect match. I’m lucky that we had a mutual friend that knew we would click. And click we did.
August 2 & 3
I skipped writing about August 2, because all I would have done is mentioned that it was steak and lobster for dinner which means another week is over. As for August 3, the big addition was the start of college football season. I’m not a big college football fan, because the start of their season really just means one more week until the NFL season. That being said it’s nice to have something else to help this place feel like home. Of course the time change makes it a little difficult to enjoy. Games didn’t really start until almost 9pm here. Just like with the NFL games, I’ll get to see the beginning of the early games and the end of the latest games. I’ll have to adjust my sleep schedule when certain teams (Buccaneers) and games are on TV. I know Jenn is super excited because her Seminoles are playing. She has threatened to dress my poor innocent daughter in an FSU cheerleading outfit. I hope my baby doesn’t have to suffer through that.
August 4
It’s official. I am 33% done with my deployment. Being a third done is a nice milestone. My day was productive filled with actual work along with doing laundry. I worked out as usual, but am definitely still feeling the pain in my shoulder. I go back to the doctor tomorrow, so we’ll see what he says. I’m worried the answer will be not working out which means I could lose a lot of the progress I have made since I arrived. If they think it’s a rotator cuff issue then I’ll probably get sent to someone else. I guess I should have gone to the doctor for it a few weeks ago when it happened. I’ll never learn.
Nineteen weeks until I’m home and will be with my lovely wife and beautiful daughter. To me I thought that sounded like a short time. Jenn pointed out that she was on bedrest for 20 weeks and it felt like forever. Now the race to 50%!
Jenn did dress my poor Emma in Seminole outfits for the first day of college football season. Although it sickened me a little, my little girl was as cute as she could be.
FITNESS UPDATE: I think I need to be happy with being 200lbs. As soon as I told everyone I got under 200, I went back to 202lbs. I feel good and way stronger, so I can live with that. A friend of mine asked me what my fitness goal was and it’s simply being a good example for Emma. I want her to grow up healthy and active and that won’t happen if her parents don’t show her how.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
19-27 August (Paul post)
Aug 19
Today was a fun day. During breakfast I saw some highlights from the Buccaneer’s game and even though they lost (actually got stomped pretty good) it was nice to see football is really back. This should help me pass the time a little easier. I had a homework assignment for my military class, so I felt pretty productive through most of the day working on it. It’s strange when you are excited about homework. When I went to dinner they were serving steak which means its Friday! We finished another week.
As an added bonus they actually replayed the Bucs game on TV here, so even though I knew the outcome I could still see the game. I’m hoping they do replays like this during the season. I already know that on Monday mornings I’ll have to wake up at 0430 in order to watch the Sunday night game. I may not do that every week, but there will definitely be a few games watched.
All that stuff was fun but the highlight was Skyping with Emma. I know I say this each day, but today’s session was the funniest. Jenn put Emma on the ground with the computer while she went to the bathroom. I always talk to her when we do this, but she usually just plays with her toys. This time she turned and looked at me. She then scooted and rolled closer to the computer and smiled each time I said something to her. It was great to actually interact with her. Then she got even more excited and rolled out of the picture. I couldn’t see her, so I just started to say her name. All of a sudden the video started to shake really bad. Emma had rolled to the side of the computer and was shaking and banging on it in response to me talking. When Jenn came back she just started to laugh at the whole scene. I finished off by watching her eat some cereal. She loves the stuff and tries to help Jenn feed her. We’re thinking about trying to feed her some actual baby food this weekend.
I really hope this is the start of Emma responding to my voice and seeing me on the computer. My biggest fear is that when I get home she doesn’t know who I am. It would rip my heart out if she cries when I first hold her. Jenn and I are doing everything we can to keep that from happening.
August 20
I’m not going to bore you with the details of my day because to be honest it’s starting to get VERY monotonous over here. Last night Jenn and I just sat there and stared at each other while we Skyped because we have pretty much run out of stuff to talk about. Today was a little better because, we discussed some issues with our house repairs.
One thing I have learned is when you call a company and say “I’m calling you from the middle of Afghanistan” they have a tendency to actually listen to you. We have been trying to get our house repaired from ice damage last winter. It is almost winter time again (a fact I explained to the contractor). The only thing they have left to do is fix the insulation in the attic. Since they were already repairing the stuff that got damaged, I asked them to let us know how much more to get the whole attic reinsulated. Let’s just say the price they gave us did not take in account the six months that they have been working on our house. After calling them from Afghanistan they will be giving us a new estimate.
Another interesting thing I have learned about deployed people is that many find ways to keep themselves busy. Every night I am serenaded by a violinist outside my door. There is a porch and he practices every night. It is actually pretty relaxing most nights. I asked him how long he had been playing and he told me he has taught himself how to play during this deployment. I always wondered why there was a laptop in front of him while he plays. Apparently the laptop is usually showing videos of how to play the violin. I was impressed because he sounds like he has been at it for years. I’m not sure there is anything that I am really interested in learning over here, so I’ll concentrate on knocking out my military education course. It’s not fun, but I might as well suck it up while I’m here.
August 21
The other day there was a bunch of emails sent out asking for people to donate blood. This happens every once in a while, but there were a few more emails than normal. It took a few days but I finally got the story of what happened.
An Army soldier apparently got into a fire fight with the enemy. He was lying in the prone position, which means on his stomach with his elbows on the ground and shooting. He got shot. The bullet entered near his armpit and went diagonal through his body and lodged in his hip on the other side. He was tore up pretty bad. When he arrived to the trauma unit he had 2.5 pints of blood in his stomach. If you didn’t know, there are only about 5 pints in the entire human body.
I didn’t hear about the need for blood until the situation was already taken care of. They got so many volunteers that they turned people away. I’ve given blood before, but every time I have done it it’s been to add supply through the Red Cross. This situation would have been and felt different. Imagine being in a room and giving blood knowing that it isn’t going to be put in some refrigerator to be used later, but instead it is going to be taken into the next room and pumped straight into a guy from the field. I can’t image that there is another experience that would feel as rewarding as that. Needless to say I will be paying attention to my email and listening for the announcement in case they ever need more.
And since I’m sure you are curious, last update I heard is that the guy is still alive and was sent to a bigger base to be treated. It’s pretty amazing that he survived at all, so keep those prayers coming his way.
On a much happier note, I got to see Emma eat some sweet potatoes today! She seemed a little taken back by it at first, but before long she was grabbing the spoon and trying to shove them in her mouth. I’m not sure if she looks like me or not, but she has my appetite.
I spent some time at the local bizarre today. A few times a week they allow some locals to come on base and sell goods to the Polish and American people. Most of the shops have similar items like trinkets, scarves, knives, rugs, dishes, etc. A lot of the stuff looks really old, but you have to be careful because a lot of the “old” stuff is fake. My coworker bought a metal bird that he is convinced is hundreds of years old and worth a ton of money. He has researched it on the internet and everything. I bought some old Afghan money and a present for Jenn. I can’t say what because she’ll read this before she receives it. The highlight of the trip was meeting the smallest man in Afghanistan and maybe the world depending on who you talk to. He stood next to me for a picture and he’s about 3 inches shorter than my hip. He was a great salesman and really good sport. He charges $5 to take a picture with you. I think he makes way more taking pictures than actually selling stuff.
August 22
I left my nice quiet home of FOB Ghazni today for the metropolis that is Bagram Air Field or BAF as we like to call it. There are a lot of things to complain about when it comes to Ghazni, but one thing I notice today is that I actually really like it. People have been asking me questions about it all day and one really got my attention. Someone asked me if I would rather be at FOB Ghazni or at BAF. The answer was FOB Ghazni hands down.
I came to BAF so I could take my first test for my military course tomorrow. If my plan works as I hope, then I will be making a monthly trip to BAF to take a test. That would mean I would have 5 of 7 completed by the time I headed home. That would be a huge accomplishment and limit how much time I have to use back home to finish the course. I think five tests before I leave is doable, but I could easily hit some hiccups on the way. The most important thing is that my bosses think it’s a good plan.
This plan gives me almost the perfect situation. I get to enjoy the quiet life of FOB Ghazni and my other FOBs, but a monthly trip to BAF means I don’t have to worry about a lack of BX/PX and I can splurge on Pizza Hut each time I pass a test. That gives me just enough of the “big city” life to survive.
One piece of bad news came up today. At FOB Ghazni, we have two guys that work in the helicopter terminal. It may not seem like it, because I have a lot of flights fall through but these guys take care of me really good. I figured I would ask them if they needed me to bring anything back from BAF. One guy wants plain Ruffle potato chips. Apparently someone gave him some French onion dip, but no chips. That’s an easy hook up to keep him on my side. The other guy said he didn’t need anything because he was moving to BAF for the rest of his deployment. His reason why? He got busted drinking. It is a 100% clear order that there is no drinking while deployed. He hung out with some of the Polish troops and drank a bunch of their homemade wine. For that he is getting sent to BAF and will probably end his military career at the end of this deployment. He was planning to get out anyways, but now it may not be on his terms. This just makes me shake my head. If you can’t go a 6, 9, or 12 month deployment without alcohol than you have an issue. He mentioned to me that they advised him to get some character letters. In other words he is trying to collect letters from people in leadership (he’s in the Army so a Captain is considered leadership) to help his case. I told him thanks for all his help and I enjoyed meeting and working with him, but I would not write him a letter. Since I only knew his reputation at work and this happened during his off time I felt like I couldn’t give a valid comment. But most of all, getting in any kind of trouble because of drinking is 100% preventable. I can’t help someone that willingly made a stupid and wrong decision.
August 23
My day at Bagram has been pretty eventful. I started off the morning with a run outside. To most this may not be a big deal, but it is impossible for me to run outside at FOB Ghazni. We don’t have any pavement or sidewalks. The whole FOB is covered by gravel which is mostly about golf ball size. It really isn’t safe for anyone to run on that stuff, but especially not someone with a history of ankle problems.
I followed up my workout by taking my test. This was the first test for this course, so I wasn’t really sure how the questions and the format of the test were going to be. It was 50 questions and I had to get a 70% to pass. I don’t want to brag, but I have always been a great test taker especially multiple choice. With that being said, I have never felt so unsure while taking a test. I could narrow every answer down to two, but was rarely 100% sure of which answer to choose. I was very nervous as I hit submit to get my score. Amazingly I got a 90%, so let the celebration begin!
At lunch I had ice cream. It was cookies and cream with some chocolate sauce. It may have been the best ice cream ever. Then I did some shopping for stuff to take back to Ghazni for me and others. While there I couldn’t pass up cold M&Ms from the refrigerator. They were fabulous. I came back to my room for a little reading and a nap. When I woke up it was time for my real reward. I went and had a personal size Pizza Hut pizza. It was a Meat Lovers and it exceeded expectations. It was washed down with an ice cold Coke. I was motivated to start studying for the next test just so I could have that meal again.
As I walked back to my room I stopped to check on a potential flight back home. I found out there is next to zero chance I will ever be able to go directly from Bagram to Ghazni. I’ll have to stop over night at another FOB. I’m ok with that, but to find out my show time to try to get on a flight is 2:30 in the morning. This is going to suck. I had a chance to chat on the phone with Jenn, but there isn’t any where for me to really Skype while at Bagram. Getting to Skype with them will be reward enough to show up for a flight at 2:30am. I’m going to try to get a little sleep and also recover from a crazy upset stomach which was obviously caused by my overload on sweets. Hopefully if my plan works out I’ll get to do it all again next month!
August 24
My day started off super early. My show time for my flight was 2:30am, but at least I got on the plane so it was worth it. I landed on FOB Sharana and headed over to the helicopter terminal. I thought I got lucky because there were two flights to Ghazni, but sadly there were only a couple extra seats and ten people ahead of me on the list.
Since I wasn’t getting out today, I got a room set up and just wanted to sleep. Lucky for me they were doing construction right outside the door so no sleep for the weary. And since I was so exhausted I couldn’t even hit the gym. There aren’t any flights to Ghazni tomorrow, so hopefully I make it out on Friday. I’ll get some good sleep tonight and do a really good, long workout tomorrow. I have to start working off all the junk I ate in celebration at Bagram.
Due to Jenn traveling to Texas today and the time difference, we couldn’t Skype today. And since this FOB doesn’t have phones in the rooms, we couldn’t talk on the phone. Today is the first day since I left home that we didn’t Skype or talk on the phone. Even though that makes me sad I can’t think about anything besides how lucky I am that we can talk as much as we do. We traded a few emails and we’ll talk tomorrow.
August 25
Not much to report today. Jenn made it safely to Texas and Emma was an angel on the plane as usual. I did a lot of sleeping and napping today to recover from my marathon day yesterday. This may be the shortest entry I ever do. Good night.
August 26
Today was another day of traveling. I made it back to good old FOB Ghazni. It is nice to be back. Another week has gone by and I’m down to about 20ish left before I’m home. The FOB had a talent show tonight which was an interesting change of pace. Only three people decided to perform and all of them played the guitar and sang. Sadly, I tried to think of what I would do if I was to perform and I don’t think I have a single talent that is stage worthy.
On a happy note, today is Emma’s six month birthday. I can’t believe it has already been six months since she was born. That day will always be one of the happiest of my life. I have never been so consumed by pure, raw emotion like I was that day. I’m sure every parent feels the same way. The first time I saw her and heard her cry brought a wave of love that before then was unimaginable. To see how much she has already grown and changed brings tears of joy and sadness to my eyes. I love to see her strong and healthy. She is learning so much and seems so interested in the world. The years of joy that our lives will have because of that little girl will be priceless. The sadness is due to some selfishness. I hate that I’m missing these months. I’m jealous of every person that gets to hold, hug, and play with her while I’m gone. But Jenn brought up a point that made me so happy. When I get back she’ll be getting to that age where she can be my little buddy. I see many trips to Home Depot and all kinds of other places with just the two of us. I can’t wait!
August 27
Today was the big day. We had our Fantasy Football Draft for my league back home. I Skyped into it, so it was nice to actually talk with some of my friends. Although the draft took longer than expected, it is after midnight, it was a good time. In honor of the tradition of eating and drinking crap while doing the draft I had a couple chocolate chip cookies and a Coke. Although both were good, I am kind of feeling like a sugar overdose. I’m very committed to fantasy football which is demonstrated by the two water bottles I filled because I couldn’t bear to leave and miss any of it. I’ll have to poor those out later. There were also about three explosions outside during the draft, but I stayed strong. It’s a late night so I’ll be heading to bed. I’m going to head back down to the bizarre tomorrow to try to get a few more things to send home. It’s my new Sunday tradition.
Today was a fun day. During breakfast I saw some highlights from the Buccaneer’s game and even though they lost (actually got stomped pretty good) it was nice to see football is really back. This should help me pass the time a little easier. I had a homework assignment for my military class, so I felt pretty productive through most of the day working on it. It’s strange when you are excited about homework. When I went to dinner they were serving steak which means its Friday! We finished another week.
As an added bonus they actually replayed the Bucs game on TV here, so even though I knew the outcome I could still see the game. I’m hoping they do replays like this during the season. I already know that on Monday mornings I’ll have to wake up at 0430 in order to watch the Sunday night game. I may not do that every week, but there will definitely be a few games watched.
All that stuff was fun but the highlight was Skyping with Emma. I know I say this each day, but today’s session was the funniest. Jenn put Emma on the ground with the computer while she went to the bathroom. I always talk to her when we do this, but she usually just plays with her toys. This time she turned and looked at me. She then scooted and rolled closer to the computer and smiled each time I said something to her. It was great to actually interact with her. Then she got even more excited and rolled out of the picture. I couldn’t see her, so I just started to say her name. All of a sudden the video started to shake really bad. Emma had rolled to the side of the computer and was shaking and banging on it in response to me talking. When Jenn came back she just started to laugh at the whole scene. I finished off by watching her eat some cereal. She loves the stuff and tries to help Jenn feed her. We’re thinking about trying to feed her some actual baby food this weekend.
I really hope this is the start of Emma responding to my voice and seeing me on the computer. My biggest fear is that when I get home she doesn’t know who I am. It would rip my heart out if she cries when I first hold her. Jenn and I are doing everything we can to keep that from happening.
August 20
I’m not going to bore you with the details of my day because to be honest it’s starting to get VERY monotonous over here. Last night Jenn and I just sat there and stared at each other while we Skyped because we have pretty much run out of stuff to talk about. Today was a little better because, we discussed some issues with our house repairs.
One thing I have learned is when you call a company and say “I’m calling you from the middle of Afghanistan” they have a tendency to actually listen to you. We have been trying to get our house repaired from ice damage last winter. It is almost winter time again (a fact I explained to the contractor). The only thing they have left to do is fix the insulation in the attic. Since they were already repairing the stuff that got damaged, I asked them to let us know how much more to get the whole attic reinsulated. Let’s just say the price they gave us did not take in account the six months that they have been working on our house. After calling them from Afghanistan they will be giving us a new estimate.
Another interesting thing I have learned about deployed people is that many find ways to keep themselves busy. Every night I am serenaded by a violinist outside my door. There is a porch and he practices every night. It is actually pretty relaxing most nights. I asked him how long he had been playing and he told me he has taught himself how to play during this deployment. I always wondered why there was a laptop in front of him while he plays. Apparently the laptop is usually showing videos of how to play the violin. I was impressed because he sounds like he has been at it for years. I’m not sure there is anything that I am really interested in learning over here, so I’ll concentrate on knocking out my military education course. It’s not fun, but I might as well suck it up while I’m here.
August 21
The other day there was a bunch of emails sent out asking for people to donate blood. This happens every once in a while, but there were a few more emails than normal. It took a few days but I finally got the story of what happened.
An Army soldier apparently got into a fire fight with the enemy. He was lying in the prone position, which means on his stomach with his elbows on the ground and shooting. He got shot. The bullet entered near his armpit and went diagonal through his body and lodged in his hip on the other side. He was tore up pretty bad. When he arrived to the trauma unit he had 2.5 pints of blood in his stomach. If you didn’t know, there are only about 5 pints in the entire human body.
I didn’t hear about the need for blood until the situation was already taken care of. They got so many volunteers that they turned people away. I’ve given blood before, but every time I have done it it’s been to add supply through the Red Cross. This situation would have been and felt different. Imagine being in a room and giving blood knowing that it isn’t going to be put in some refrigerator to be used later, but instead it is going to be taken into the next room and pumped straight into a guy from the field. I can’t image that there is another experience that would feel as rewarding as that. Needless to say I will be paying attention to my email and listening for the announcement in case they ever need more.
And since I’m sure you are curious, last update I heard is that the guy is still alive and was sent to a bigger base to be treated. It’s pretty amazing that he survived at all, so keep those prayers coming his way.
On a much happier note, I got to see Emma eat some sweet potatoes today! She seemed a little taken back by it at first, but before long she was grabbing the spoon and trying to shove them in her mouth. I’m not sure if she looks like me or not, but she has my appetite.
I spent some time at the local bizarre today. A few times a week they allow some locals to come on base and sell goods to the Polish and American people. Most of the shops have similar items like trinkets, scarves, knives, rugs, dishes, etc. A lot of the stuff looks really old, but you have to be careful because a lot of the “old” stuff is fake. My coworker bought a metal bird that he is convinced is hundreds of years old and worth a ton of money. He has researched it on the internet and everything. I bought some old Afghan money and a present for Jenn. I can’t say what because she’ll read this before she receives it. The highlight of the trip was meeting the smallest man in Afghanistan and maybe the world depending on who you talk to. He stood next to me for a picture and he’s about 3 inches shorter than my hip. He was a great salesman and really good sport. He charges $5 to take a picture with you. I think he makes way more taking pictures than actually selling stuff.
August 22
I left my nice quiet home of FOB Ghazni today for the metropolis that is Bagram Air Field or BAF as we like to call it. There are a lot of things to complain about when it comes to Ghazni, but one thing I notice today is that I actually really like it. People have been asking me questions about it all day and one really got my attention. Someone asked me if I would rather be at FOB Ghazni or at BAF. The answer was FOB Ghazni hands down.
I came to BAF so I could take my first test for my military course tomorrow. If my plan works as I hope, then I will be making a monthly trip to BAF to take a test. That would mean I would have 5 of 7 completed by the time I headed home. That would be a huge accomplishment and limit how much time I have to use back home to finish the course. I think five tests before I leave is doable, but I could easily hit some hiccups on the way. The most important thing is that my bosses think it’s a good plan.
This plan gives me almost the perfect situation. I get to enjoy the quiet life of FOB Ghazni and my other FOBs, but a monthly trip to BAF means I don’t have to worry about a lack of BX/PX and I can splurge on Pizza Hut each time I pass a test. That gives me just enough of the “big city” life to survive.
One piece of bad news came up today. At FOB Ghazni, we have two guys that work in the helicopter terminal. It may not seem like it, because I have a lot of flights fall through but these guys take care of me really good. I figured I would ask them if they needed me to bring anything back from BAF. One guy wants plain Ruffle potato chips. Apparently someone gave him some French onion dip, but no chips. That’s an easy hook up to keep him on my side. The other guy said he didn’t need anything because he was moving to BAF for the rest of his deployment. His reason why? He got busted drinking. It is a 100% clear order that there is no drinking while deployed. He hung out with some of the Polish troops and drank a bunch of their homemade wine. For that he is getting sent to BAF and will probably end his military career at the end of this deployment. He was planning to get out anyways, but now it may not be on his terms. This just makes me shake my head. If you can’t go a 6, 9, or 12 month deployment without alcohol than you have an issue. He mentioned to me that they advised him to get some character letters. In other words he is trying to collect letters from people in leadership (he’s in the Army so a Captain is considered leadership) to help his case. I told him thanks for all his help and I enjoyed meeting and working with him, but I would not write him a letter. Since I only knew his reputation at work and this happened during his off time I felt like I couldn’t give a valid comment. But most of all, getting in any kind of trouble because of drinking is 100% preventable. I can’t help someone that willingly made a stupid and wrong decision.
August 23
My day at Bagram has been pretty eventful. I started off the morning with a run outside. To most this may not be a big deal, but it is impossible for me to run outside at FOB Ghazni. We don’t have any pavement or sidewalks. The whole FOB is covered by gravel which is mostly about golf ball size. It really isn’t safe for anyone to run on that stuff, but especially not someone with a history of ankle problems.
I followed up my workout by taking my test. This was the first test for this course, so I wasn’t really sure how the questions and the format of the test were going to be. It was 50 questions and I had to get a 70% to pass. I don’t want to brag, but I have always been a great test taker especially multiple choice. With that being said, I have never felt so unsure while taking a test. I could narrow every answer down to two, but was rarely 100% sure of which answer to choose. I was very nervous as I hit submit to get my score. Amazingly I got a 90%, so let the celebration begin!
At lunch I had ice cream. It was cookies and cream with some chocolate sauce. It may have been the best ice cream ever. Then I did some shopping for stuff to take back to Ghazni for me and others. While there I couldn’t pass up cold M&Ms from the refrigerator. They were fabulous. I came back to my room for a little reading and a nap. When I woke up it was time for my real reward. I went and had a personal size Pizza Hut pizza. It was a Meat Lovers and it exceeded expectations. It was washed down with an ice cold Coke. I was motivated to start studying for the next test just so I could have that meal again.
As I walked back to my room I stopped to check on a potential flight back home. I found out there is next to zero chance I will ever be able to go directly from Bagram to Ghazni. I’ll have to stop over night at another FOB. I’m ok with that, but to find out my show time to try to get on a flight is 2:30 in the morning. This is going to suck. I had a chance to chat on the phone with Jenn, but there isn’t any where for me to really Skype while at Bagram. Getting to Skype with them will be reward enough to show up for a flight at 2:30am. I’m going to try to get a little sleep and also recover from a crazy upset stomach which was obviously caused by my overload on sweets. Hopefully if my plan works out I’ll get to do it all again next month!
August 24
My day started off super early. My show time for my flight was 2:30am, but at least I got on the plane so it was worth it. I landed on FOB Sharana and headed over to the helicopter terminal. I thought I got lucky because there were two flights to Ghazni, but sadly there were only a couple extra seats and ten people ahead of me on the list.
Since I wasn’t getting out today, I got a room set up and just wanted to sleep. Lucky for me they were doing construction right outside the door so no sleep for the weary. And since I was so exhausted I couldn’t even hit the gym. There aren’t any flights to Ghazni tomorrow, so hopefully I make it out on Friday. I’ll get some good sleep tonight and do a really good, long workout tomorrow. I have to start working off all the junk I ate in celebration at Bagram.
Due to Jenn traveling to Texas today and the time difference, we couldn’t Skype today. And since this FOB doesn’t have phones in the rooms, we couldn’t talk on the phone. Today is the first day since I left home that we didn’t Skype or talk on the phone. Even though that makes me sad I can’t think about anything besides how lucky I am that we can talk as much as we do. We traded a few emails and we’ll talk tomorrow.
August 25
Not much to report today. Jenn made it safely to Texas and Emma was an angel on the plane as usual. I did a lot of sleeping and napping today to recover from my marathon day yesterday. This may be the shortest entry I ever do. Good night.
August 26
Today was another day of traveling. I made it back to good old FOB Ghazni. It is nice to be back. Another week has gone by and I’m down to about 20ish left before I’m home. The FOB had a talent show tonight which was an interesting change of pace. Only three people decided to perform and all of them played the guitar and sang. Sadly, I tried to think of what I would do if I was to perform and I don’t think I have a single talent that is stage worthy.
On a happy note, today is Emma’s six month birthday. I can’t believe it has already been six months since she was born. That day will always be one of the happiest of my life. I have never been so consumed by pure, raw emotion like I was that day. I’m sure every parent feels the same way. The first time I saw her and heard her cry brought a wave of love that before then was unimaginable. To see how much she has already grown and changed brings tears of joy and sadness to my eyes. I love to see her strong and healthy. She is learning so much and seems so interested in the world. The years of joy that our lives will have because of that little girl will be priceless. The sadness is due to some selfishness. I hate that I’m missing these months. I’m jealous of every person that gets to hold, hug, and play with her while I’m gone. But Jenn brought up a point that made me so happy. When I get back she’ll be getting to that age where she can be my little buddy. I see many trips to Home Depot and all kinds of other places with just the two of us. I can’t wait!
August 27
Today was the big day. We had our Fantasy Football Draft for my league back home. I Skyped into it, so it was nice to actually talk with some of my friends. Although the draft took longer than expected, it is after midnight, it was a good time. In honor of the tradition of eating and drinking crap while doing the draft I had a couple chocolate chip cookies and a Coke. Although both were good, I am kind of feeling like a sugar overdose. I’m very committed to fantasy football which is demonstrated by the two water bottles I filled because I couldn’t bear to leave and miss any of it. I’ll have to poor those out later. There were also about three explosions outside during the draft, but I stayed strong. It’s a late night so I’ll be heading to bed. I’m going to head back down to the bizarre tomorrow to try to get a few more things to send home. It’s my new Sunday tradition.
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