So Long September

For the longest time, September was our goal. We just had to get to September. Well, September arrived and basically, it overstayed its welcome! Normally, with Josh in school, September flies by for us. Somehow, this September was painfully slow.

A couple of Josh's buddies were gone this month, so it made it extremely long for him. One in particular "gets it" just like Josh does. He has the same responsibility as Josh in the truck and sees the same things Josh sees - literally and figuratively. Thankfully, this soldier and another one who Josh enjoys returned this past weekend.

Things for me moved along, but considering the amount of activity I had going on, it dragged. Even with the arrival of the twins and all of the running, it seems like September was six weeks long.

We'll see what October brings . . .

Wise Old Uncle... Pretty Smart Aunt

Josh sent me the following e-mail this morning after some "deep thoughts" involving yesterday's arrival of TJ and Ella.

"Holy smokes, how many is that? Dominic, Jonathan, Hailey, Cassie, Francesca, Cody, TJ, Ella, plus one on the way. Nine all under five. That means starting in 2021, we start attending high school graduation parties like it is our job. Instead of publishing a guidebook on the amenities of the various maternity wards, we can publish a book on high school graduations. We can have features on the best place to park, average length of ceremonies, who has the best punch, which bleachers are the most comfortable and which you should bring a cushion to. haha. It is so weird because this whole crowd and future crowd members will learn about 9/11, but never have experienced it, they will ask us what it was like, where we were? We are living history and could possibly be interviewed as primary sources for school projects - ugh we are old. haha. Either a woman in the No.2 office or an African-American in the No. 1 office will not be groundbreaking and they will ask us what the big deal was. Their first cars might be hybrid/ethanol/electric hand me-downs from their parents. Can you imagine us plugging our car into the wall? They will do it, and they will not think twice about it. I can imagine them forgetting to plug it in, and calling each other for a ride to school, because the car is dead. "You forgot again!" "If you can not be responsible enough to plug it in, then maybe you are not ready for a car!" Haha. It would be the equivalent of us being teenagers and riding around on E, taking a chance that it wouldn't run out of gas. Who am I kidding? I would forget to plug it in. haha. Oh well... I love you to the moon and back a thousand times. See we are not that old. We weren't alive when they went to the moon. Except you were born after space shuttles left the earth and I was three when the first one went. So, that makes me the wise old uncle, and you not the as wise but still pretty smart aunt. haha."

Josh also called this morning and we chatted for a nice amount of time. I hadn't spoken to him in 19 days, so it was really exciting. Even better was that I had taken the day off to "recover" from yesterday's adventures. (I did manage to babysit all of the nieces and nephews on my side, along with visiting the newest ones yesterday!) Since I was off, I had more time to talk with him, and fewer interuptions.

He is doing well for the most part. Each day is frustrating. A lot of "broken promises"... still no day off. A lot of "rumor has it" that ends up just being rumors. He continues to keep everyone entertained and trys to make light of every situation. Several have asked him or commented "what are we going to do when we don't see you everyday?"

He said for the most part, this is the beginning of the end of their time there. We do not have any information on when they might be home. No one really knows, as we have heard a large range of time. From what we know, the replacements are "on schedule" so we will keep our fingers crossed.

For One Moment the Whole World...

... revolved around one boy, one girl!

Uncle Josh and Aunt Darci have been blessed with welcoming another nephew and niece into the world. Diane gave birth to the twins this morning!! She made it to 37 weeks in the pregnancy. She was due October 15 and at one point, we were wondering not about September, but a late August arrival. As Uncle Josh said, "I guess it is good that they have stayed inside and kept cooking. They will be nice little butterballs when they show up. haha."

Welcome to the world, TJ and Ella!!

Thomas Joseph (TJ) Pisciotti
September 24 at 4:00 a.m. * 7 lbs. 5 oz. and 20" long

(formerly known as Baby Boy/Baby A)

Antonella (Ella) Lisa Pisciotti
September 24 at 4:24 a.m. * 6 lbs. 12 oz. and 20" long

(formerly known as Baby Girl/Baby B)

We have a "4-4 record"... 4 nephews - 4 nieces . . . so far!

Another look at TJ...

... and Ella ...

Mom, Dad, Big Sister Francesca, and both babies are all doing very well, though very tired after a wee-hours delivery and a day full of visitors.

A Friday Laugh!

I received quite the e-mail from Josh this morning. It gave me a much needed laugh - the laugh out loud, pee your pants kind! I will share as much as I can, though unfortunately I can't share it all and therefore, it may not come across as funny to you. If you can picture anything about where they are living/their current situation/how loud the interior of the humvees are, you'll get a good sense of why it was so comical.

Our nephew Dominic was spending the night with my parents a few weeks ago and they put together a package to send to Josh. Dominic decided to add something special to it.

"I did get your mom's package with Dominic's rock. haha. It has been sitting on my little home shelf with the pictures and other things. haha. I meant to say something too about his name. You can pass it on that I am really impressed with his name - it starts with a capital letter and all the other letters are lower case. So many kids come from pre-school spelling their names all in caps. boo! And it goes from left to right - a stunning feat really. haha I guess the kids in killawog are lot smarter than the kids in c-town haha. Tell him i want a rock that says Forrest on it. haha. I don't want any toilet paper from Jonathan. haha." (Jonathan was successfully potty trained recently!)

And of course the wait continues for the Pisciotti twins to arrive...

"When is Diane going to have her babies? I am tired of waiting. I am just kidding. I told everyone that Franny was over three feet tall and everyone laughed at me. Winner winner chicken dinner. I get a prize. What do I get?"

Good thing Josh is in Afghanistan, otherwise Diane might be kicking him in the shins right now. There was a brief discussion on if Diane had them on September 17th what they might name them. Brian being a 7th grade Social Studies teacher thought that some connection to Constitution Day should be made.

"You can tell Brian the whole dining hall was decked out like it was the Fourth of July - streamers, banners, red white and blue table cloths, balloons, on and on. Someone was like what the hell is today? And without missing a beat, I said, 'It's constitution Day.' haha. Everyone was like geek! haha."

Where's the beets?!

"(Soldier across the hall) is back and now (another soldier) is in his room 24 hours a day and they play World of Warcraft - some computer game into the dead of night. Dwight (Schrut - aka the Beet Farmer) plays it on 'The Office'." (One of our favorite, if not very favorite shows).

The life of a driver...

"(New soldier) got to the truck, and he starts yelling at me... 'You guys are bullshit-this is bullshit. I am not a driver(like it is some dirty word). I already put in my time driving.' -blah blah. He has been here a week. I said listen you need to shut up. I have been driving for almost six months. I have driven almost six thousand miles in country, in this patched up piece of shit, so go to your truck and sit and spin.

"We lead out today because I was the only veteran driver, and the third truck driven by (soldier) completely went straight when two other trucks in front of him turned right. How hard is it? He says it is because the power steering went out. Uh... (soldier) is huge and my power steering has goes out too and I have made all the turns. He was not paying attention.

"And then (another soldier) went to (two higher-ups) after the mission and said I was horrible driver and that he couldn't keep up because I was setting too fast of a pace. The pace was 40 on a hardball on a Friday (in other words... their weekend + during ramadan + middle of the day= no traffic). So now later today, I cannot go more than 35. Why we were out, I blew two lines of something, so we had to go right to maintenance along with (soldier) and his "power steering" problem."

A window-licking good time...

"We had to go to (base) yesterday among a million other places, and Sgt. (Soldier) was like 'you, (Soldier 1) and (Soldier 2) will all ride with me. I am not sure who is going to do what, but one of you will be a window licker (= sitting in the back seat).'

"I never ever never get to window lick and I was like I would love to sit in the backseat.

"Sgt. (Soldier) said, 'fine, I will make (Soldier 2) drive and (Soldier 1) gun.' "

Later on, Josh wrote...

"I don't have a headset in the back, so its not like I can comment. As it was, after (base) we had to go to this other smaller american fob down the street from us, and I was the only one in the truck that knew the directions on how to get there. I was like are you guys serious? So, I had to shout the directions to (Soldier 2) from the backseat - that was humorous."

Working 7 days a week... Most people probably don't realize that other than Josh's leave, he has not had a single day off since he arrived in Afghanistan.

"Even today, they split up the missions so the new people could have some "down time". So (Soldier 2) had off in the am, and (Soldier 1) has off in the pm. Guess who has to do both? I guess I should be flattered."

"Today was supposed to be our scheduled day off -- haha -- that did not happen again for a combination of reasons: (someone) that doesn't give a crap + (another someone) with no testicular fortitude + (many people) running (acronym) = no days off ever. haha. Do you like all my math equations?"

And last, but not least...

"ps. no frost here, but big dust storm!"


In other news...

It's the 19th of the month!!! Eight months down!! For me, I am guessing that the next month will fly by, with the arrival of the twins and the marathon ahead for me. I hope that Josh can live vicariously through those moments with me. We were so excited for September to arrive and I constantly say, "Oh my, it's only September (insert any date)" This month has seemed to drag on.

All I have left to say is . . . TGIF!!

A Running Update - Part II

Our story has been included in this month's Monthly Countdown e-Newsletter for the Chicago Marathon. The whole story is not included, but it is referenced, along with fellow runner Bob's story and the link is provided. A majority of the runners sign-up for the newsletters and others will see it on the website. This is the second of three features that include in our story. Check back closer to the marathon for the third one!

A Running Update - Part I

Josh and I can both update everyone on our running. While in Afghanistan, Josh's Lt. organized a 9/11 Memorial 5k event. Due to missions, they were unable to attend the ceremony that was held on 9/11, so he was glad he had the opportunity to participate in the run. He said, "it was eerily quiet as everyone ran", and assumed that like him, most people were deep in thought.

Back home, my training continues for the Chicago Marathon. On Sunday (September 14), I spent the early morning hours putting in my longest training run... 22 miles. It took a little over 3 hours and 50 minutes, which considering the humidity, it was a decent time! It was a tough run, especially the last mile, but I kept at it. After this week's running, I will officially be through the bulk of the training, and will enter the rest and taper phase. My long runs will be reduced each week, as will my weekly mileage totals. It is exciting to think that I am finally at this point... the homestretch. 26 day to go!!

In other news, Josh received his new iPod shuffle. He sent this to me in a recent e-mail... "I have bought some music on itunes, but not knowing what is on the radio right now and the fact that the connection is so bad (when you go to play the sample of song it rebuffers the stream about every three seconds and you can never quite get it), you are buying blindly and I have made some horrible decisions. haha."

We heard about Josh's new group of kindergartners and they are a good group so far. Right now he has 18 students, but one will be leaving soon. Pending the arrival of any new students, he should return to a class of 17 -- a great number for the grade level!

Josh has recently become more vocal about things happening in Afghanistan and other events in the world. After "trying to figure it all out", he concluded with, "Oh well. I guess I really can not solve that problem today."

Pentagon 9/11 Memorial Dedicated Today

When we were visiting the Pentagon in July while Josh was home, our tour guide took us down to see the interior Pentagon Memorial that has been established. Today, the outdoor Pentagon 9/11 Memorial site was dedicated and will be open for public viewing beginning tonight. It was still under construction when we were visiting, but we were able to catch a glimpse of what it would look like. From the direction each person is facing to the timeline of of the victim's ages, the design is amazing and a true tribute to those who lost their lives and their loved ones. Here is a great article that was recently posted about this morning's ceremony. Here is the Washington Post's recent coverage, as well as the link to the virtual memorial on their site.

"Jake", who provided the tour of the Pentagon, sent me the following pictures today. Below, I included a portion of his e-mail that he sent.

"While the dedication was a remembrance of those who died here seven years ago, Josh and all the other men and women who serve our country were the subject of every speech given at the ceremony. We are so thankful and lucky for all of those who continue to fight for our freedom, both here and abroad.

"The dedication was a very nice--and indeed moving--event. I have attached a couple of pictures taken by one of the other gents in the office. I look forward to taking you through the site the next time you guys are in town for a visit.

"Please pass my very best to Josh. I cannot tell you how much I admire him, especially after Jen filled me in on his background and vocation. I know you are counting the days until his safe return, and I can only hope that it goes by quickly for you."

A New Hope...

"For Our World"

We need to stop, just stop, stop for a moment

before anybody says or does anything that may hurt anyone else.

We need be silent, just silent, silent for a moment

before we forever lose the blessing of songs that grow in our hearts.

We need to notice, just notice, notice for a moment

before the future slips away into ashes and dust of humility.

Stop, be silent and notice.

In so many ways, we are the same.

Our differences are unique treasures.

We have, we are a mosaic of gifts to nurture, to offer, to accept.

We need to be, just be, be for a moment

kind and gentle, innocent and trusting, like children or lambs,

never judging or vengeful, like the judging and vengeful.

And now let us pray, differently yet together,

before there is no earth, no life, no chance for peace.

"A New Hope"

I need a hope, a new hope, a hope

that reaches for the stars and that does not end in violence or war.

A hope that makes peace on our earth

and that does not create evil in the world.

A hope that finds cures for all diseases

and that does not make people hurt in their bodies,

in their hearts or most of all, in their spirits.

I need a hope, a new hope, a hope

that inspires me to live and to make all these things happen

so that the whole world can have a new hope, too.

The above poems were written by Mattie Stepanek at age 11. He wrote "For Our World", a prayer, on the evening of September 11, 2001.

Shake, Rattle and Roll!

Josh called today -- they had an EARTHQUAKE around 10 am this morning (1:30 a.m. our time)!! It measured 5.6 on the Richter Scale. He knew what was going on because he had been through one in Colombia, but needless-to-say, several of the other Upstate NYers were a bit confused! The initial tremor sounded like a helicopter landing, so at first they didn't think anything of it. When the 5.6 one came, he said that it knocked items off from tables and desks.

I sent this article to Josh yesterday. Although this is the MSNBC link to it, the end of the web address on Yahoo read "angry_afghans". It gives an interesting perspective to what is going on over there, and as Josh said, shows the other side of the story!

Josh continues to get in trouble for wearing his sunglasses on his head. He actually had an interesting "run-in" with a Master Sgt. while in the chow hall, which has everyone laughing, including the company commander from Ithaca. I think everyone is sensing how ridiculous some people are with their rank! To each his own, I guess. At least Josh has maintained his ability to laugh it off. Imagine if that was the worst thing people did here - wearing their sunglasses on their head?!

Baci's Party of Five!

Let's see... April 5th to May 5th to June 5th to July 5th to August 5th to SEPTEMBER 5th!! It's a Party of FIVE!!! Woohoo! Some days it is hard to believe that Josh has been in Afghanistan for five months, and other days it feels like five years, but we'll celebrate the small steps!

"The Wheels on the Bus..."

Well, it's the week after Labor Day, so we know that it means - the start of another school year! It has been a flurry of activity in the neighborhood. All of the kids have been getting in their last dose of summer vacation, which has meant the laughter and screaming from the neighborhood kids has been at an all time high in the past few days. The warm weather and sunshine had them enjoying their last "freedom rides" on their bikes! On Wednesday, as I left for work, the bus drove through the neighborhood and I'll admit - I cried and I don't even have kids, let alone ones that are heading off to school. It made me think of Josh's first day of school when he started at Barry, how I took a picture of him, and how every year, his excitement grows for the start of the year.

It's hard knowing that Josh is missing out on this big moment in a job that he absolutely loves. At the same time, this hopefully marks the start of the final school year that will be interupted with the National Guard/Army trainings and deployment. This is now his 7th year of teaching where he has had to leave either for a long weekend of training, basic training, annual training, or in this case a deployment at one point or more throughout the school year. The 2009 - 2010 school year will be exciting. He'll get a full year in the classroom, the first time since the 2001 - 2002 school year when he was in Bogata, Colombia.

Being in Afghanistan, Josh has had a very eye opening experience. In any difficult situation, we all learn (intentionally or not) about our strengths, weaknesses, what we are passionate about and what we may or may not want to do down the road. I have mentioned from time to time on the blog, and some of you know from knowing Josh before the deployment what his intentions were for enlisting in the Guard - to help his country. Josh saw 9/11 from another continent and when he returned he thought it was his duty to serve. Though it does not alter Josh's committment to his truck, platoon, unit or the mission in Afghanistan, Josh will openly admit that the Army "isn't his thing." He is very grateful for the opportunity to serve and how it challenged him. Perhaps if he had a different job or role, something where he feels he would make a bigger impact, then it might be different. As he said in the post from last week, "If nothing else, I taught this one village how to get in a line one behind the other. My great contribution to the war on terror and counterinsurgency. haha. I would like to introduce modern toiletry products such as antipersperant. I searched more than one individual with the "dam has broken" sweaty pits. haha. Personnel searches-definitely drew the short straw on that one."

Through his time over there, he has discovered how much he misses and truly loves, and I mean LOVES, his job as a teacher and especially a kindergarten teacher. Not that it was ever a question before he left, but on several occassions in the last few months, something to the effect of "I have a job I really love at home" has been expressed in an e-mail or phone conversation.

Our oldest nephew, Dominic, headed off to Kindergarten this week and Uncle Josh sent him a special e-mail. I think this epitomizes his love for children and why he does such a remarkable job in the classroom.

Dear Dominic,

It is Uncle Josh. I just wanted to write you and tell you that I am so proud of you. That means I think you are a great person and I really like the things you do. You are going to be an amazing Kindergartener. I know you are going to be a great friend to everyone in your class. I know this because you are such a good brother to Jonathan and Cassie. I know you are going to be a big help to your teacher. I know this because you are big help to your Mom and Dad. Kindergarten is so much fun. You are going to learn a lot and have a lot of fun doing it. I know Kindergarten is fun because I teach Kindergarteners just like you! I know you will make great choices at school. I can not wait to hear about all your Kindergarten adventures. I am sorry I won't be able to visit with you after your first day of school, but I was wondering if it would be OK if Aunt Darci and I meet you for lunch at your school one day after I get home? When I come for lunch I am going to be really hungry, so is it okay if I eat your lunch too? I am just joking with you! haha Have a great time on the first day of school. I know you are going to do a terrific job! See you in a little bit.

Love,
Uncle Josh

To all of the teachers, especially the Barry Staff and Donna, Brian and Nikki, good luck with the start of another school year!

To all of the students, make Mr. B proud and know that he wishes he was there with you!

"One more mile . . . one step closer!"

A lot of you have asked, either through conversations via phone, e-mail or in person, how I am really doing? As you discovered through the post about Josh's leave and other posts since then, I have been running while Josh has been away and even participated in a few races this summer. It has been very therapeutic in dealing with the daily highs and lows. A good run can completely change my day and a long, hard run makes sleeping easier at times. Well, as some of you know, in March, I signed up for the 2008 Bank of America Chicago Marathon, which will be held on Sunday, October 12 -- 39 days and counting!!

After registering for the marathon and like several other runners, I submitted my response to the question, "What is your marathon story?", sharing my reason for signing up and pursuing yet another marathon. Since Bank of America is the title sponsor, they have created the "Inspiration Bank". There are a handful of runners who post diary entries (aka blog) about their running - sharing their trials and tribulations of training, pieces of advice and big accomplishments. There is also the Expert Q & A feature, where past marathon champions provide some advice on staying the course and finishing the marathon. The final feature of the Inspiration Bank is the Featured Runner section. Can you guess where this is going? Yes, out of 45,000 runners in this year's field, I was selected to be the Featured Runner for September! My story is posted on the website and will be included in some electronic newsletters for other runners to read, and hopefully gain some inspiration for those 18, 20 and/or 22 mile runs that will occupy our time in the weeks ahead. Please check out the Chicago Marathon site to read the story!

If interested, you can also sign-up for runner tracking (now available!), where you will receive updates when I cross the timing mats at 15k (9.3 miles), 1/2 Marathon (13.1 miles), 35k (21.7 miles) and the finish line!

My training has gone really well thus far. I am a much stronger runner for this marathon than I was for the last one. I have a great "coach" here in Cortland. Harland works upstairs in my building and has ran close to 70 marathons. He is a coach for Teams in Training and has provided me with some amazing advice. Instead of running the entire marathon, I am using the run/walk method. For training, I run 9 minutes and then power walk 1 minute. In the end, it will add approximately 30 seconds to my per mile pace, but it allows you to "refresh" each mile, giving you more energy throughout the entire race, and will hopefully alleviate the impact of "hitting the wall" around mile 21. Harland actually used this approach and qualified for the Boston Marathon! So, here's hoping!

This is all very exciting and a great way for Josh and I to connect long-distance. I always send him updates of my running, pretty much after each run, but especially the long distance runs! He actually did not know that I submitted the story until I sent it to him recently (even after he was home for leave). He is just as excited as I am and will be running with me that day - in spirit and in heart!