A little shout out to Barry...

First of all, wholey moley...all the packages of stuff you guys have been collecting arrived this evening. I wanted to take the time to thank everyone for contributing such great stuff for us and for the children we see on a daily basis. They will love it. We love it. I especially appreciated the zip drives, as apparently everyone in the Army is supposed to have one now, but it something they never issue. I must have missed the memo that was passed out in triplicate four times about picking one up. I mean seriously, a zip drive. As an infantryman, I had to memorize the Infantryman's Creed. The Infantryman's Creed has strong one liners like "I am the Infantry, I am my country's strength in war." or "I am the Queen of Battle" (I know, a little weird, but apparently artillery gets to be the King of Battle, so we had to settle for queen.) or "I am the heart of the fight wherever, whenever", and oh by the way do you have your zip drive? I mean who knew. So, that was a great find in the box. Also, the one female supply clerk that we have attached to our unit, just about fell over when I passed off the copy of the Glamour magazine to her. So, put your hands together for whoever threw that in. I seriously thought she was going to pass out. I especially want to thank Rick Miller for boxing all that up and sending it off in the mail. I really appreciate. You guys are the best!

We will be passing out all of that great clothing real soon. I found some kids in one village, that I really would like to give the bulk of it too. They are terrific. As many of you know, at night we wear Night Vision Googles or NVGS. They are attached to our helmet by something called a rhino mount, because it looks like a rhino's horn on your head. The NVGS can be stowed in an up position until you are ready to use them. Then you can swing the rhino mount down and it brings the NVGS to your eyes. I make it sound a lot less awkward and not as uncomfortable as they are. It is a piece of equipment, you hate until you actually really need to use it, and you are like man I get it, I completely see the point behind all that. Walking with them on, does not even begin to compare with driving with them on. Anyway, we were in this village, as it started to get dark, and I mounted my NVGs on my head in order to be prepared. The kids thought it was some sort of video camera. They begged me to lower it in front of my face, and when I did they thought that was the cue for the camera to start rolling. Well, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph it was like a Dance Party, American Idol, and WWF rolled into one. The boys were all striking body building poses yelling that they were John Cena, the girls were all singing Britney (I am sure The Prophet Mohommad is rolling over in his grave on that one), and the rest were just dancing fighting and nudging each other so that they would be seen "on camera". When I put them back on my head, they all stopped, and said oh mister, mister...please" So, I sent them all over to another truck and told them that that truck had candy and made a run for it. Don't feel too bad for them-they were the lead truck that day,and they had driven really slowly all day and chosen way more difficult routes than necessary, so we all know what they say about paybacks.

I am sure many of you have been watching the news and have noticed that there is quite a bit of activity here in this corner of the world as of late. This was expected, and something we have prepared for and trained for. The Taliban like to launch a "Spring Offensive" every year. It usually lasts from April to September, and then as the weather changes, they go back to hiding out. I think people are sometimes surprised by the violence here. With that being said, please take everything you hear on the news with a grain of salt. Everyone I have met here wether they be US, a coalition partner, or a member of the Afghan National Army or Afghan National Police is working as hard as they can with the resources they have been given. Please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we draw courage and strength from them everyday. Sister Michelle, my fourth grade teacher, would be amazed at how quickly the Hail Marys roll off my tongue. I was always a little slow at prayer memorization. I mean who can concentrate on afternoon prayers when you are one amen a way from lunch. It is the support of you all that carries soldiers like me and allows us success. You will never know how much we appreciate it.

In another news...I did watch Michelle Obama interviewed on The View in the chow hall. It was on all eight televisions. BOO! I have nothing against the junior senator's wife from Illinois, I just have only seen The View in Saturday Night Live sketches. It just seemed like an awkward programming choice for a post with over 85% men. Unfortunately, for the first five minutes, I really was not sure who she was because TV watching is few and far between. A little embarassing, I know.

Finally, today is Friday, and I am not going to lie to you all-the Kindergarten Team at times has been known to have a meal or two at the big Burger King on an occasional Friday. Today, I found myself at one of the larger American Bases here in Afghanistan that happens to have a BK. So in honor of the Kindergarten Team, I had my lunch at Burger King. Although, I did not have to race back to school by 1:15, only to fumble with the back door only to remember that I had to go in the front door which forces me to pick up my kids with a LARGE soda in my hand. It wasn't nearly as fun because A) my wife did not show up to surprise me to eat with us like she sometimes does, and B) I got yelled at by three different people in about three consecutive seconds b/c my sunglasses were on my head, which apparently next to not having a zip drive is the worst sin you can commit in today's army. I hope you guys have a great weekend and a great summer. Josh