18 Days of Leave

I wonder if anyone reads this blog anymore...I certainly don't. Right now I'm home on leave for Iraq for 18 days. My leave ends on the 23rd; just in time to miss Christmas. At least I get to enjoy the pre-Christmas festivities and see family and friends.

Things I've done at home so far:
Sleep
Eat a ton of junk food
Enjoy time with my parents and Heidi
Hang out with Hannah and friends
Spend time with Misha
Go to a prayer meeting (AWESOME!)
Go to Mass at CTK
Go skiing
Go to the spa
watch a little TV
read
Drive for the sake of driving
Go to the gym
Not think about work

Things yet to do:
Visit Betsy, Mark and Iain in MN
Sleep
Eat a ton of junk food
Spend more time with parents, Heidi, and Kevin
Hang out with Ruth
See more friends
Celebrate a family Christmas
Go to another prayer meeting
Go to the gym again
send some care packages back to Iraq
Do my Christmas shopping (I probably should get that done before the family Christmas)
Shop for my niece and nephew just because I'm their aunt and can spoil them if I want to
Still not think about work

So far this leave has been quite relaxing and enjoyable. The time home with family and friends, and also the ability to get away and be by myself for a bit has been extremely nice. Plus, God once again heard and answered a prayer of mine this past Sunday.

Mid-August

Though the week as a whole went by fairly quickly, the days seemed to drag by and this month also feels like it is passing very slowly.  Part of the problem is that I keep thinking about leave...3.5 months from now.  In the grand scheme of things that is not a very long time, but when I think about the fact that its only mid-August and I won't be able to do all the stuff I'm dreaming about (mainly sleep), and see all the friends and family I miss so much until December, it wears on me.  On the brighter side of things, I've convinced myself that the hottest part of the year has officially past and it will only get cooler from here on out. Since August is the hottest month of the year, and 15 August is the middle of the month, we have therefore past the hottest day of the hottest month.  I don't care how skewed and wrong my thought process is about this because I am happy in my little world thinking that it will only get cooler outside.  Plus, I'm convinced that as it gets cooler out the time will also start to pass quicker.  My logic is full of holes, but at least I'm happier thinking this way.

 

I wonder which handgun he decided upon, the 1911 or the Springfield XD?

Congratulations Charlie!!!!

I'm extremely proud of my cousin Charlie because he graduates from Marine Corps boot camp today.  I've been telling all of my friends here in Iraq about him.  Way to go Charlie!!!

The Tree

A couple days ago after dinner two of my coworkers, Katy and Joe, and I decided to make a quick trip to to the PX. The sun was setting by that time and as we were walking the short distance from the DFAC to the PX and as we crossed the road I happened to look towards the south perimeter of the FOB. Off in the distance I noticed what looked to be the outline of a tree that was significantly taller than the walls surrounding the FOB. The FOB isn't very large (a mile in length at it's longest point, and significantly less in most areas) and so I don't know why I hadn't noticed this tree before, but it could be due to the fact that usually it's so bright out during the day that I end up looking down at the ground instead of up at my surroundings.  In any case, I pointed the tree out to Katy and Joe and we all stopped for a minute trying to figure out if it was actually a tree or just smoke from some smoke stacks.  Eventually we concluded it was in fact a tree, and actually a normal looking tree at that.  There are a few trees on the FOB, but as Katy pointed out, they look like Dr Seuss trees.  Other than that, vegetation on the FOB is quite scarce and the sight of a relatively normal looking tree off in the distance was rather refreshing.  I looked for the tree again today in order to confirm that it is actually a tree and not smoke and it was still standing there. 

The Gym

New mile record for me: 6:47 (once again though, 0% incline on a treadmill).

 

I've been a bit more homesick than usual recently.  This week has been a rather slow week work-wise and so I was able to average 13 hr work days and then get to the gym around 11pm. 

 

I'm half attempting to do this program at the gym called Body For Life.  It's an exercise regime and somewhat "diet" that you're supposed to stick to.  I regularly cheat on the diet and often do my own workouts (mainly cardio with a little weight lifting a couple times a week), but still managed to lose 3 pounds and 2-3% body fat (supposedly down to about 18%).  When it comes down to it, I'm not sticking to the program at all, but at least I'm still seeing results. 

 

I tend to talk about working-out on here because I don't feel comfortable talking about work due to OPSEC and other issues, and the gym is one of the few things that leaves me with of a sense of accomplishment and where I can see positive results. 

Promotion Pictures

Introvert

This deployment has given me a chance to see the extent to which I am an introvert. Many people have a mistaken notion of what it means to be an introvert and often put a negative connotation with the word introvert. They associate with someone who is anti-social; however, the merriam-webster definition of introvert is, “to turn inward or in upon itself as a: to concentrate or direct upon oneself.” Whereas a person who is extroverted is rejuvenated through interaction with other people, an introvert is drained by being around many people and re-energized by more solitary activities. That is not to say that an extrovert cannot enjoy time alone and an introvert does not enjoy interaction with others, but there is a inherit need for each person to re-energize in some form or fashion.

I bring all of this up because I have realized me need for time away from others this deployment. Whereas I originally didn’t want to take a couple extra hours off from work each week, after moving to my new office location where I am surrounded by people each day and the extent to which I have to interact with various other people on a daily basis, I’ve found the morning off once a week to be a huge blessing. Today is the second morning off that I’ve taken, with the first being two weeks ago. After my first morning off two Soldiers I work with mentioned to me that I was glowing. My co-workers frequently made that exact same comment about me last deployment the day after I’d taken some time off from work. Not only am I internally re-energized, it amazes me that there is also such a significant change in my appearance after spending a few hours alone.

I’ve set a few guidelines for myself on my time off. Spend some time in prayer and Bible study, no baking, no violin practice for church, get plenty of sleep, avoid crowds as much as possible, try and avoid unnecessary interaction with others, and spend the majority of the time lying in bed. Though I love serving other people and trying to make their lives more enjoyable, I cannot serve them best if I am a grumpy, overly-tired grouch.

This deployment I’ve also made new friends inside and outside of work; however, as my work hours increase my ability to spend time conversing and exchanging emails with my friends has significantly decreased. Though I really enjoy my new friends, I unfortunately have exhausted all of my mental and emotional reserves by the end of the day and have next to nothing left for further interaction, conversation, and sharing of thoughts with my friends. I hope that this changes sometime so that I can once again look forward to conversing with my friends on topics other than work related issues.

Time Off

I'm finally doing it...I'm taking four hours off tomorrow morning.  This week I began to notice that I was becoming very gloomy, depressed and felt burnt out.  The last time I had a quasi-day off was in mid-late April when I was up in Taji doing equipment inventories.  The last day I was up there all of the inventories were complete and so it was almost like a day off before we had to fly back to Falcon.  Both yesterday and today I noticed that even though I've been getting plenty of sleep my body felt the same as it does after I've been awake for 36 hours.  This afternoon I decided to finally make the decision to take some time off, and while I was walking back to my room tonight I realized just how much I do need to take a break.  I was walking down a road that has 20ft tall concrete barriers running parrallel to it and at one point, though I'm not sure how I managed to do it, but I ran into the barriers and fell down.  Thankfully it was dark out and I don't think anybody saw me fall, but if anyone did see me I'm sure they spent the rest of the night laughing at the LT who ran into a barrier and fell down because she was walking next to it. I had a good laugh at myself after I picked myself off the ground.   

5 Miles :)

Today I ran 5 miles faster than I ever have before: 40:12.  I cheated a bit because it was on a treadmill and the incline was at 0%.  The first 5 min were at a 9:14 pace at 0.5% incline.  Then I went up to 8min/mile pace at 0.5% incline for another mile or so  before going down to 0% incline and going up to a 7:54 min/mile pace, and then increased the pace for last 0.5 mile up to 7:30 min/mile pace and then up a bit more for the last quarter mile.  I left the gym quite happy :)

Work...Sleep...Run

I suppose it's been a while since I have written anything, though Heidi is still winning the lack-of-new-post contest.  Not a whole lot is new here, save for that I have a new job since the last time I posted on here.  Work keeps me rather busy and most of my time is spent dealing with detainees, though not in person.  I try and shoot for about a 13.5 hour work day (not including PT), I'm very happy if it is only a 12.5 hour work-day, but don't sweat it if it is 14-15 hours. The only downside of the longer work days is that I have less motivation to get up at 6am the next morning to go for a run. Soon I'll have to start running even earlier since it's starting to get hot by 6am now.  Before, it didn't really start to heat up outside until 7am. 

 

I've found that if I don't run in the morning I have no energy that day.  Even with that knowledge it is still very hard for me to pull myself out of bed a lot of mornings.  The past month I've averaged 17 miles a week, though my goal is to average at least 20 miles.  Some mornings, in order to motivate myself to get up, I make a deal with myself that if I get up and run early I can go back to bed after my shower until 8am.  The plan sometimes backfires on me though, like this morning.  I planned to run 5 miles, but had a really hard time getting up and so I made the deal again.  The problem was that I got up later than usual and I knew that I wouldn't have much time to sleep, so I ended up only running two miles on the treadmill so that I would at least run 17 this week...and then went back to bed. 

 

There are also many days that I think about how eventually I'm going to be able to take leave, and that going to bed and sleeping for an incredibly long time sounds wonderful.  I'm not sure why I'm so tired because I do get plenty of sleep, and if I don't get enough sleep it's my own doing...such as right now. 

 

We're supposedly allowed to take 4 hours off a week (come in late or leave early), but I have yet to see anyone do that.  Some days I may take a bit of a longer lunch, or like today, go visit a friend for two hours because I needed to talk to someone and get my mind off of things, but even then I feel like I'm slacking because I'm gone for so long.  There are occasional days that I'll come in late or other people will come in late, but it's always because we had to stay really late or were called back in to work the night before.  On the upside, right now the weeks are moving very fast.  I can't believe it's already Sunday again. 

 

Time to get some sleep.  Good night.

 

 

Grieving

My heart aches for his wife, daughter, and Jon. Though I didn't know him very well, I do know that Tim was truly a man after God's own heart. The world lost one of it's best.  You're in my prayers.

HACKED!!

The two recent posts about shoes were not from me.  My blog has apparently been hacked.

 

-The real Shibidie

28 March 08

Last night around 2300 I was going outside to brush my teeth and just as I stepped outside I heard a whistling overhead and then a small boom. Right after the boom a guy came running out of the darkness yelling "ROCKET!" as he ran past me inside. Since he was running I followed him running inside. There was one more faint boom after the that, but it turns out that the rockets overshot the FOB by a good distance so we weren't in any danger.

Just now I was walking from the TOC to the company command post (CP) via a shortcut across the helipad. The route is more dangerous because there aren't as many places to seek shelter and it's a wide open area, but the route does shave off a good bit distance and time. When I was about 2/3 of the way to the CP there was a huge explosion that made me jump and left me trying to figure out where I could seek shelter. A second later the PA system announced that it was controlled detonation. I think the controlled det was very nearby because I could seek black smoke rising right over the FOB perimeter wall nearby to were I was standing.

Even though it was a controlled det it shook me up a bit because for a moment I didn't know if it was one or not and all I knew was that I was out in the open unprotected with the explosion being very close. It's now time to put all of my gear back on. I'm still hoping each day that I'll find out that we won't have to wear all of our gear anymore.

25 March 08

There were two more IDF attacks today. The first was around 1400 and I was sitting in the Tactical Operating Center (TOC) for it. They were able to get a point of origin (POO) quickly and so they redirected Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) coverage to the POO. A blue bongo truck and a white sedan were at the scene and we followed the truck as it fled. The chase lasted over an hour and involved multiple people, insurgent vehicles, stops, and dropping off of equipment. At ont point we had attack aviation on the scene, but they couldn't positively identify the vehicle on the ground. All of us wanted to see them blow the insurgent vehicle to smithereens, but that never happened. In the end the three main insurgent vehicles were all stopped at a single house with the insurgents meeting inside, but everyone fled on foot just as ground troops arrived. Itw as extremely frustrating to watch them all get away.

This evening my roommate, Z, and I heard multiple explosiong but couldn't tell if they were incoming or outgoing. We were both a little jumpy and sensitive to sounds. The first explosions we heard were outgoing, but then around 2200 the sirens started going off and rounds began raining down on the FOB. I think there were 6-8 rounds during the first attack today, but I only counted 4-5 rounds in the second attack.

So far I haven't heard of any casualties from the second attack. No one was injured in the first one. At this rate we'll be wearing full battle rattle for the next 14.5 months.

24 March 08

This time around in Iraq is a lot different than last tour. In the days leading up to my arrival in country the forward operating base (FOB) had received multiple rounds of indirect fire (IDF), but only minor damage to buildings. The day I arrived, 21 March, I was joking with WO1 W. after dinner about how there hadn't been any IDF that day because the Anti-Coalition Forces (ACF) knew I was on the FOB. Then, not even five minutes later, at least 10 rounds of IDF came in. When the first round hit Mr. W and I looked at each other wondering if it was incoming or outgoing. We decided it must be outgoing because the sirens hadn't sounded, but right then the siren sounded and more rounds started coming in. Mr. W and I were right by our living quarters and ran inside the warehouse when the rounds started hitting. That's the last time I'll joke about an IDF attack not occurring on my account. One Soldier was killed and four were severely wounded in that attack.

Ever since that day we've had to wear full battle rattle every time we step outside or are in a building that is not a hardened structure during a 12-hour period of the day. We also are no longer allowed to eat lunch or dinner in the dining facility (DFAC) and instead have to get carryout boxes. While writing this we just had another IDF attack, so I'm guessing we'll be in full battle rattle for a few more days.

Last night I was in the TOC when the battle major yelled over for the UAV to fly to the site of an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) strike. It was dark out and so the UAV was using the infrared camera and I could tell that the IED strike site was extremely hot, but didn't think to much of it while I was watching the screen besides to wonder why it appeared so hot. I found out in the morning that what I saw the night before was a Bradley on fire. Four Soldiers inside burned to death and a fifth one was severely burned and might not survive. I was seeing Soldiers die and didn't even know it. CNN reported the IED strike because the death of those four Soldiers pushed the OIF death toll above 4,000.

Is it normal that I feel almost no emotion when I write all of this? The only emotions I do feel are those pertaining to wondering if I should feel anything because I just talked about five Soldiers dying.

Magic Time

This is the tent I lived in for two weeks in Kuwait, although this picture only shows half the tent. There were over 60 females living in the tent.

This is a picture from the doorway of my room in Iraq. My bed is the one on the right.

Here is what the outside of the rooms look like inside the warehouse. My PSG and his roommates aquired a couch that sits right outside their door, which is across from my door.

I've found, as with most people on FOB Falcon, that I've tried my best to plan my day so that most of my running around is accomplished before Magic Time. I'm not going to go in to what Magic Time is on this blog, but I will say that hopefully today is the last day with Magic Time because dressing up is getting old, especially in this heat. Thankfully, no magic shows have occurred during Magic Time the past few days and so it looks hopeful that today will be the last day of Magic Time. Goodness, my short term memory really is bad. I remember waking up yesterday and deciding to get up because I wanted to do something before Magic Time began, but for the life of me I can't remember what that something was. Oh, it's coming back to me now. I wanted to drop off my laundry. Unfortunately, I also wanted to go to the PX, but it opened after Magic Time had already begun and so it was a bit awkward carrying my new plastic 3-drawer cart back to my room. Things to look forward to after Magic Time ends: sitting in the DFAC to eat meals, no dressing up for 12 hours, going for a jog around the FOB, not being called Sir anymore, and so many other reasons.

Life is definitely different this time around. I have a roommate (and possibly a second one), I live in a room inside a warehouse instead of in a trailer, there is wireless internet in our living area, the FOB is a lot smaller, I carry an M4 instead of an M16, I'm a platoon leader instead of a BN staff officer, and I can use SKYPE to call people in my room instead of having to go to the phone trailer. All of those are positive things (even the roommates!). This may sound crazy and my attitude will most likely change after I've been here a few months, but right now I'm liking life and I am looking forward to taking over the mission here.

Kuwait and Iraq

Picture of me while I was the Officer in Charge (OIC) of the M4 Zero Range in Kuwait. It was pretty cool being out and looking around the Kuwait desert.

I got to see lots of camels out in the desert :)

This is a picture of the actual M4 range we ran.

I survived my two weeks in Kuwait and last night I arrived at FOB Falcon in Iraq. Falcon is definetly different than Taji, and tomorrow I will get to see just how different because I am making a one day trip up to Taji to drop off some flight records. Whereas in Taji I had a large two-person room all to myself, right now I am living in a room the size of a small Taji two-person room but have three other roommates (my commander, my supply sergeant, and an Air Force sergeant).

Ireland

I suppose that when I told people I was getting deployed they assumed I meant to Iraq or Afghanistan, but right now I'm sitting in beautiful Ireland enjoying the scenery, watching Heroes on my computer, and sipping on a Latte.  Yes, life is hard.  Unfortunately for me, I'm only stopped over in Ireland for a couple hours and then I continue on to the real deployment.

The List

It's almost 11pm and I'm sitting on the couch thinking about how I want to go to bed, but if I go to bed I don't know if I'll be able to sleep and I don't want to spend my last real night in my nice, comfy, big, non-cot bed tossing and turning.  Plus, the moment I lay down my mind will start going a million miles a minute and come up with last minute things I need to do and get.  I'm on the verge of freak-out mode.  Lets see, tomorrow I need to call Grandma, Heidi (if she's on skype), Ruth, Andrea, Jon, Misha,...(list to be continued as I think of more names), pay Thrivent bill and give mom check for next year, renew computer software, write Nutun a letter (only 6 months late), wash linens and clothes, sort and pack civilian clothes, buy new carry on bag and pack it, cancel car insurance, drop bags off, call Jordan about new time, move bed, give mom and dad documents and key, copy phone numbers from phone, drop old books off somewhere (could end up being a dumpster), pick up name tapes, buy more PT shorts, buy phone card, pay final rent, write Andrea's birthday card (could wait till the plane or Kuwait though), charge dvd player, have lunch with the platoon, get rid of my food in the house, sleep in (because won't be able to for a long time), make pancakes for breakfast?, clean out car, and avoid stressing-out.  Sounds like it will be a fun-filled easy day...

 

Sweet Dreams.

Cuddle-Bug

This morning we were released early because there is a company pre-deployment party this afternoon for the soldiers and their families. I got home after work and Calvin and Violet were very excited to see me because no one else was home to keep them company. Violet loves to cuddle and when I sat down on the couch she wanted to get up and sit by me. She ended up falling asleep snuggled next to me and I was able to snap this picture of her with my webcam.

Peaceful Run

This evening I went for a run around the neighborhood and decided to run through a portion that is under construction.  Though I've lived in this area since June, it was the first time I ran in this area and I wish that I discovered it sooner. The developers hadn't started building houses and only 1/2 the roads were paved.  If I faced West I realized that I couldn't see any buildings in sight, which I found incredibly peaceful. I immediately felt some tension and stress leave my body as I ran further away from the developed areas and civilization. Though I had only planned on running 5 miles, I ended up running 6 miles because I was enjoying the calm and the scenery so much. It reminded me of my favorite portion of I-35, the Flint Hills.  All you can see is prairie and rolling hills without a man-made structure other than the freeway in sight for miles.  I looked forward to that part of the drive on my three trips along that route this year.  Perhaps I should move to Wyoming or Alaska some day.

 

 

Flip-Flops Make Good Pillows

Since I don't have kids to write about yet I am instead going to write about Calvin and Violet.

This evening I ended up dog-sitting Calvin and Violet while Karen went down to Austin for the night with Kristen, our other roommate who just got back from Iraq on Friday, and their friend Matt, who is back on R&R from Iraq. I had planned to stick around the house and do more packing anyway, so watching the dogs wasn't a problem for me. What I didn't think of when I agreed to watch them is that both dogs had slept all afternoon. Calvin was tired from a run that Karen and Matt took him on, but Violet was sleeping because Calvin was sleeping. The result was that Violet had a ton of energy while I was trying to pack later in the evening. She tried to get that energy out by chewing on anything an everything, to include my watch (while I was wearing it), my pocket zipper on my pants (while I was wearing those pants), a pair of fluffy bunny ears attached to a headband (fake, and I was not wearing them), and my pony tail if I happened to by lying on the ground. Thankfully, though her teeth are pointing she doesn't doesn't actually do any damage to anything with them...yet.

Dinner was another issue (theirs, not mine). Violet has puppy food while Calvin has big dog food, and both of them seem to prefer the others. Calvin isn't a very picky eater and so he eventually eats any food in his dish, but Violet was only interested in chewing on the plastic bowl her food was in and didn't appear to be interested in her food at all. If I left her alone then the food would get spilled all over the floor and Calvin would gladly eat all of it for her. I'm not sure how much she has actually eaten the past few days because what I just described seems to be the general trend. I finally figured out that if I put her food in my hand and hold it out to her she'll eat it that way (with a few nibbles on my fingers), but if I leave it on the ground then she's not interested in eating it. I ended up feeding her her whole cup of food from my hand while Calvin tried his best to get to her food anyway he could.

Below are a few pictures I took throughout the evening of Calvin and Violet:

Flip-Flops make good pillows.

Calvin trying to reach the blueberry muffins I just baked.

Calvin and Violet asleep in the Couch

Calvin and Violet in the Kitchen

Back In Texas

Happy day after Valentine's Day. Yesterday was quite a momentous day for me with none of the reason having anything to do with Valentines day. Now that I think about it though, it being valentine's day yesterday did ruin my plans to enjoy a nice steak and mashed potatoes dinner followed by a movie. Traffic was horrendous because everyone was out trying to get to their valentine's day date destination and the wait at the restaurant was 80-90 minutes, so I went to Denny's instead and had breakfast for dinner followed by watching TV in my room instead of trying to endure the crowd at the theater.

Back to the reason yesterday was momentous. First of all, though not the first momentous thing that happened, I graduated from my course and left Fort Leavenworth. Unlike the other 4ID people in the course I can not say that I was looking forward to going back to Fort Hood. If I could've stayed a couple weeks later at Fort Leavenworth and then deployed straight from there I would've gladly jumped at the chance. Unfortunately, no genie pops out of a lamp for me and says "your wish is my command," and so now I am back in Texas. The nice thing is that it is a four day weekend for President's Day. Since I graduated yesterday morning and then departed right after graduation it is more like a 5.5 day holiday for me, though I now have plans to go to SRC (final pre-deployment records and medical checks) at 6:30 am on Tuesday morning with my XO.

The other event in my life that occurred yesterday is that the Army decided that, since I haven't murdered anyone or gotten any DUI's, I am promotable to Captain. They posted the promotion list yesterday morning and, if the trend from the past two years holds true for this year, 1 July will be the date of the big event. Iraq must be my lucky promotion spot since it is where I was promoted to 1LT on my last full day there in 2006.

There have been a few changes around where I live that I immediately noticed driving in to town. For one, there is now a starbucks in Harker Heights, which makes two for the greater Fort Hood area. Another change is that across the freeway from the new Starbucks they are building a Barnes & Nobles. I actually let out an audible cheer in my car when I saw the under construction sign because the only other book stores within 20-50 miles are a Family Christian Bookstore (which I think I've bought out), and a Hastings Books & Music. Of course, my joy was short-lived when I realized that it is highly unlikely that they will have the store finished in less than 2.5 weeks. Oh well, it's something to look forward to when I return (if it is to Fort Hood to which we return and not Fort Carson).

There was one other major change that really surprised me. When I opened the front door of the house I expected to be greeted by my roommate's rambunctious yellow lab, Calvin. Instead, I was quite surprised to see a little yellow lab pup (8 weeks old) sitting in the hallway and no Calvin in sight. My roommate wasn't home and so I took to calling the new pup "little guy" (though it turns out she's a girl) and was so distracted playing with the puppy that it took me awhile to get around to unloading my Jeep. My fears of Calvin having died or been given away were put to rest when Karen and Calvin walked in the door later. Apparently Calvin is a bit jealous of Violet (the puppy has a name!), but Violet adores Calvin and tries to imitate everything he does. Karen lets Calvin sleep on her bed, but since Violet also sleeps up there Calvin now refuses to sleep on the bed and instead crawls under the bed to sleep. Violet, wanting to be like Calvin, follows him under the bed whereupon Calvin growls at her. Unlike Calvin, Violet is an angel save for the fact that she started gnawing on my running shoe while it was still on my foot. Hopefully Violet will be a good influence on Calvin and they will one day get along.

Mostly About Running

Today I accomplished something that I haven't done in quite a while, I ran a mile in 7:20. Last year that wouldn't have seemed like a huge accomplishment because that was a pace I knew I could run at, or faster, but I've slacked off running in recent months.

My original goal was to see if I could sustain an 8mph pace or below on the treadmill for two miles, but almost halfway through the first mile I realized that something I ate for lunch wasn't sitting very well (I'll leave it at that) and that I was pushing my luck with trying to make it one mile on the treadmill in that condition. I somehow managed to finish the mile, perhaps because I wasn't focused on how much I dislike treadmills but instead focused on finishing the mile so that I could make it to the bathroom as quickly as possible. It was a bit disappointing because running-wise I felt great and wanted to keep going, but I felt weird for the rest of the day, especially after I ate anything. I'm not sick, but something isn't quite right.

I talked to Heidi today and found out that she is sick :( Get well soon!!!! I also read Karen's blog and am saying a prayer that her family gets over the flu soon, or whatever it is that is making them sick.

As I stated above, I really dislike running on treadmills. I find them boring and the time seems to drag by while the distance crawls by even slower. However, I've found that if I do intervals or hill workouts on the treadmill I can at least get myself to run for 30-35 minutes at a time. I suppose I should get used to treadmills because they will most likely be my only option if I want to run in a couple months.

There is one other thing I've found that helps me while running on the treadmill for which I can at least partially attribute to my friend George. A couple months ago George let me borrow a cd/dvd talk by Dr. Ray Guerendi. I really the talk and found it both entertaining and informative. I decided to look Dr. Ray up on the internet and found a podcast on iTunes of his "The Doctor Is In" radio show. Now I listen to that podcast while running on the treadmill because it keeps me more entertained and less focused on my dislike of treadmills than when I listen to regular music, which means that I am able to run longer. I've downloaded a couple hundred of his podcasts in hopes that they will continue to help me while running on a treadmill in Iraq.

Pre-Deployment Thoughts

I have less than a month left before I board a plane and head back over for round two. The closeness of the deployment is starting to hit me more frequently. My feelings about deploying are different this time than they were last time. Last time I was purely excited and couldn’t wait to go. The only ideas of what it would be like over there were things my imagination could come up with, and the majority of my preconceived notions were wrong. This time, however, I have my past experience clouding my vision of the future for both the good and bad.

Part of me is still looking forward to being over there largely because I feel like I am slacking off somehow by being back in the states when I have friends and classmates who are deployed. I am also looking forward to getting away from Fort Hood and garrison life. The past year was entirely focused on training and getting ready to deploy after having just gotten back from the first deployment. The optempo was quite fast and a lot was asked of the soldiers in terms of time and training. I’d rather be in Iraq than stuck at Fort Hood training for Iraq.

As the deployment draws nearer I’m finding myself looking around and trying to take in the things I normally take for granted, such as the ability to drive my car down the road, sleep in late on the weekends and be lazy if I want, wear regular clothes and my hair down, have a bathroom and shower a few feet away from where I sleep that doesn’t require me going outside to reach, and so many other things.

From what I’ve heard recently, Iraq is much quieter than when I was there last time. Most likely, the worst things I will have to deal with are trying to overcome the groundhog effect of the days as well as making sure that I don’t get fat from all of the food at the dining facility. I don’t know what life will be like this time around, but if it’s anything like last time than I can’t complain about a lack of creature comforts.

My Nephew!!!

Now that Betsy and Mark have posted pictures of him on their blog I feel it's safe to mention the birth of my nephew, Iain Paul, on this blog. He's soooo cute, but if you want to see pictures you'll have to go over to Betsy's blog. He was born this morning and weighted 6lbs 15 oz. It hasn't really sunk in yet that my sister is a mom and that I'm an aunt, but I'll hopefully be able to visit them the weekend after next and that will most likely make it a bit more real. Have I mentioned that he's very cute?

Fort Leavenworth

Thanks to some help from my friendly neighbor and fellow 1BCT'er I now have a working LAN connection in my room. So far I've greatly enjoyed my time here at Fort Leavenworth. Although class the past two days has gone a couple hours into the afternoon, we've been told that's not normally the case and that most of the time we'll be done by noon and then have the afternoon for studying and such. Not only do I feel like I am getting a great workout for my mind and being intellectually stimulated here, I'm also getting by body back in shape. Even with class going into the afternoon, we still get out incredibly early and so I've been able to get in a good run and workout at the gym before heading back to my room to eat dinner and study.

Fort Leavenworth is so much more beautiful than Fort Hood. Yesterday I went for a run around the post and saw signs in many of the front yards of the houses stating the year when the house was built. Most of them were built in the late 1800s or early 1900s. One more great thing is that there is supposedly a ski hill nearby that has days where active duty military can ski or snowboard for only $5. Some of the other people in the course and myself will most likely go check that place out later this week.

To sum it up, the past three days have been almost like a vacation or retreat. Though I'm sure my mind will get a good a workout and as a result I'll be quite mentally exhausted at times, right now I am really enjoying the course and being at Fort Leavenworth for the next couple of weeks.

Infomercial Time

I am going to risk sounding like an infomercial right now because I feel the need to share about how I am very impressed by the Space Bag. The Space Bag is a storage bag that looks similar to a huge ziploc bag, but instead of only having a seal at the top, it also has a one-way valve that fits a vacuum cleaner hose so that you can vacuum out all the air in the bag and thereby significantly compress whatever you put into the bag.

I must admit that I'd seen products similar to Space Bag on TV before and laughed at them, but then saw the product at the store a couple weeks ago and figured that since I am doing a lot of packing where maximizing the usage of all available space is essential I should give them a try. So far I have packed my C Bag, which is the duffel bag that will be packed in the milvan and which I will not see again until I am in Iraq. Normally I struggle to fit everything on the packing list, but with the use of a couple Space Bags I was able to pack, in addition to almost everything else on the packing list for that bag, an extra pair of ACUs, a feather pillow, a down comforter/throw, a set of sheets and extra pillow cases, my JLIST (think big and bulky pants and jacket), and my wet weather boots, as well as some extra t-shirts, socks, and underwear.

I hope to use the Space Bag when packing my other two duffel bags, but will not be able to add as much additional stuff. When we get to Kuwait I will most likely be breaking the vacuum seals on a couple of the bags in order to get to my clothes and things necessary for everyday life. There will not be a vacuum cleaner handy when it comes to repack the bags to head up to Iraq and so my originally nicely compressed stuff will puff out to all manner of sizes.

This evening I also packed my small tough box that will go in the milvan. The violin I bought in Iraq last year and Joe Bear will both be making the trip back over this year.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!