For Here or To Go?

To go, please! I am getting way too excited! I am leaving soon. I will be home in less than a month and things are coming together. We will be moving out of our CHUs in a week. We have to live in tents for a few days before leaving for Kuwait. You might remember from earlier stories that Kuwait is hell. Yes, I have to make a quick stop in hell before going back to the States. Last time we stopped in Budapest, Hungary. I had a good time for the few hours we were there. I hope we stop in Ireland this time. Ireland is another common place for military flights to stop for refueling. :)

Yay! I'm almost home!

Stop Army

For all of you who didn't notice, check out my dream blog. The link is on the right side of this page. Seriously, look!

Time to leave is getting closer and closer (yay). I have already sent my footlocker home and am getting the rest of my things together to send. May is the last full month we'll spend in country and I am very excited about that. The new doctors are here and seem tolerable. The temperatures are still hanging right around 100 degrees which is not what I expected. I really thought we'd be above that by now. I'm not complaining though.

The mood here is a mix of excitement, anxiety, and irritation. Everyone is ready to be done here and to go home. Its difficult to explain the heightened awareness that you are a rat in a cage (thanks Billy). I know I'm ready to take control of my life again. My new slogan: Stop Army.

We Didn't Start The Fire

My electricity keeps going out. I'm tired of it because the AC keeps shutting off. Its hot! The highs are going over 100 degrees now and I am sweating to death. I'm not dramatic--I'm hot. I also keep worrying that I'm going to wake up late for work and get in trouble. Stupid electricity outages. Stupid Iraqi desert temperatures. Stupid heads. I quit.

Eureka!!!

I was just getting undressed in my CHU after a long day at work when I thought I saw a little piece of glitter on my small rug. I bent down to inspect it closer and guess what? IT WAS MY LOST DIAMOND!!! Holy crap! How it has been there for over two weeks and I haven't seen it, is a mystery to me!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!! Yay!!!!

Easter Bunny Strikes Again

Yay!!! The Easter Bunny made it all the way to Al Asad, Iraq to deliver fresh eggs to soldiers everywhere!! That's right. I had fresh eggs for Easter breakfast. I am one happy soldier.

Can I go home now?

A Diamond Lost in the Rough

I don't know when it happened but one of my diamonds in my engagement ring has suddenly gone missing. It was one of the smallest ones along the band. Perhaps it felt overlooked or underappreciated. I don't know. I only wished I could have coaxed it into staying. Now there is only a hollow cavity where it once shined. It will be sorely missed.

"It is better to have had and lost than to never have had at all." (small adaptation for the situation)

I would like to have a moment of silence.

Thank you.

Bubble Gut

After braving the long, cold days of the Iraqi winter, Spring has finally arrived and who better to herald the news to me than my dear old friend, Allstate. I spied him on my window yesterday after many weeks of absence. It was really great to see him again. I will post a pic later to prove his existence.

Defiant against the stifling of my creativity, I have made a photo book of Max and me. It is available for viewing on blurb.com and really there's no time like the present to stop reading this blog and go check out that site! Like a proud parent, I insist that you be nice to my book and love it as much as Max and I do.

I just felt like run-nin'. Thank you, Forrest.