A real welcome home treat!

Since the marathon, I have been very busy, so busy that I haven't ran since my little burst of energy on Election Day. I have missed the running quite a bit, but have created my very own masterpiece. While Josh was gone last year (2007) during one of his training sessions, a little idea popped into my head. I was cleaning the downstairs, annoyed because we always let that be the last area that got cleaned, but more so because I didn't think we actually utilized the space - just plain off white walls, with a lot of usable space! We had a futon, a couple of bookshelves, and a TV hooked up to a VCR and DVD player, but not to cable. The wheels started to turn...

I knew I wanted to do something special for his birthday, being that he was away, it was his 33rd and his birthday is on Veterans Day. So, how about a new TV...

I have always wanted a fireplace, so my parents bought this for our Christmas gift.

I decided I wanted to get rid of the futon and buy a real couch.

Of course, I couldn't have just a couch and I fell in love with this chair at Babies 'R Us on one of my shopping adventures.

Now that you have seen all of the "key pieces", here are some shots of the entire room, paint colors, and everything put together... Remember just off white walls before, no chair rail, no built-in!

Here are some pictures of the office...

The bathroom even got a fresh look...

As for Josh's reaction... Well, I scheduled this post to appear today. Hopefully, I got some great shots of his reaction and I will post those as soon as I can! Check back later...

December 27th

Hooray for this day that is finally here!!

We will forever celebrate this day as a special day in our house!

Press Release from New York State Division of Military and Naval Affairs

Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I Love Ya Tomorrow...

... you're only a day away!!!

This is such an exciting time! I talked to Josh each of the past few nights. One of his good soldier buddies is with him and Josh uses his cell phone to call. It is wonderful to hear the excitement in his voice, eventhough there are a lot of yawns and you know that he is exhausted.

Josh said that Christmas was a bit odd -- just another day. They were allowed to leave post for dinner, so they went to a Japanese steakhouse - yum!! I am sure he tried to catch up on sleep, but when you don't have a pillow, I am sure even that is hard.

I spent the morning at the house. I did receive a wonderful surprise on Christmas Eve from my friend Megumi in Japan, so I had a great gift to open. My parents arrived at 11 and we headed up to Auburn to see Diane, Brian, Francesca, TJ and Ella. I had not seen TJ and Ella in quite some time (at least 7 weeks ago?). They are all doing wonderfully and have some amazing outfits to wear when they see Uncle Josh tomorrow! I returned home for the day and started making sugar cookies. My Mom had mixed the cookies for me - a double batch. About 1/2 way through the first batch of dough, I was ready to stop making them... I swear that dough multiplies! (Mom, you were right!)

My sister (Donna) is coming in this morning to help frost the cookies, deliver Cody's naptime apparatus (aka - a pack and play) and help with some other things. It will be great to spend some time with just Donna and she will be able to keep me calm and on track. I really don't have much to finish up before Josh gets home -- I have kept things moving right along.

Josh's family is leaving today to head up from Virginia. They "LOVE" (not) traveling through the great state of Pennsylvania, so I am sure the 232 miles through PA will seem like 500 to them today. The manager at the Country Inn and Suites is giving us a special rate for Josh's return. What a great little place that is and it's just around the corner from the house!!

I know that right now I am running on pure adrenalin!! I am beyond thrilled. The house looks amazing, if I say so myself. I even cleaned the garage on Christmas Eve!!! And even better, the garbage man just came for recyclables and he took the huge (MASSIVE) box of cardboard that I put out. Woohoo!

T minus 34 1/2 hours!!!!!!!!!

All I want for Christmas...

... WILL BE HERE ON SATURDAY!!!

Yes, Just about 57 more hours. Josh is scheduled to arrive in Syracuse late Saturday afternoon!!! It will be wonderful to have him in my arms and HOME!!

It will be quite the sight, between our entire family -- there will be 23 of us there to welcome him home!! Two of which, TJ and Ella, Josh has yet to meet. Quite the treat for him, that is for sure!

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas ...

Busy Times in Ft. Bragg

Josh called this morning at 4:33 a.m. His good friend Hulsizer still has his cell phone and let him borrow it. Josh destroyed his cell phone prior to leaving -- unintentionally. They were doing some "army tactics" where he had to keep dropping out of the turret and it just kept getting beat up, so he bid it adieu prior to leaving for Afghanistan. We'll get him a new one once the dust settles and he has been home for a bit.

They are keeping them VERY busy in Ft. Bragg. They were in the demob process until 11 p.m. last night and had to be ready to go at 5 a.m. this morning for more. They can get away with this because 1.) WE WANT THEM HOME! 2.) THEY WANT TO BE HOME! and 3.) Their internal clocks are so screwed up that they don't know what is day or night. He said when he got up at 4 to make some phone calls that lights were out, but everyone was awake. It does sound promising that they continue to push them through as quickly as possible.

All in all, from Kyrgyzstan to Ft. Bragg, they were flying for 26 HOURS!!! Insane!! I am not sure if I would ever want to fly again, but I know Josh will! They flew from Afghanistan to Krygyzstan to Azerbaijan to Ireland to Maine to Ft. Bragg. They were delayed twice - once on the way out of Afghanistan and then again on the way out of Kyrgyzstan. I am not sure the cause of the delay in Afghanistan, but I do know it was weather related in Kyrgyzstan. In the end, it really doesn't matter. I firmly believe that regardless of when he left any destination that it would have been after Christmas for him to come home. I do think that him arriving in the US so close to Christmas is working to our advantage as they are trying to get them home as soon as possible after Christmas. In the end, it's a reminder that Christmas is a day, but it can be celebrated whenever and for however long - it's the spirit of the season!!

It was such a wonderful surprise. Of course, I am now awake - WIDE awake, but it gives me a jump start on the day. I can always take a nap later! I should hear from Josh tomorrow. So, if you are interested and need a break from the delicious food or sharing in gift giving and receiving, I hope to post to the blog tomorrow once I have heard from him.

Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah!

GOD BLESS THE USA!!!

UPDATE: Moving right along!!!

At 10:10 a.m. this morning they were in FT BRAGG!!!!!

YIPPEE-SKIPPEE!!!!!

Josh called at 6:05 a.m. this morning and he was in MAINE!!

He will be making his way straight to Ft. Bragg and bypassing Atlanta!

As soon as they get to Ft. Bragg, they will start the demob process, so we may not hear from him for a little bit.

I did know this was coming, as I heard that they were in Ireland last night. Fortunately, there were three flights of soldiers going home (all different destinations), which unfortunately meant the phone lines were mobbed. Another wife was able to let me know where they were as she had a nice birthday surprise - hearing from her husband that he was in Ireland on his way home!!

Hopefully, they will move right along the demobilization process and BE HOME SOON!!!! Yippeeeeee!!!

Insert Jeopardy Tune Here

Do do do do dodododo do ... I find myself singing that in my head several times a day just waiting for the phone to ring. Yesterday, I had the phone turned up as loud as it would go because I was all over the house doing stuff. I went to Kmart last night and had forgot to adjust the volume. I think everyone in the store knew that someone's phone was ringing. Oops.

We continue to wait. I have not heard from Josh since Friday morning and the anxiety grows by the second for the next phone call indicating his newest location. I honestly thought we would have had a new location by now. My boss said well, "no new is good news" and I told him and as I have said before, "no news is no fun!"

... do do dododododo dooo dooo ...

Coming Up Next...

Here is a brief overview of Josh's travels and how he will spend his time over the next few days/weeks.

At some point, hopefully soon, he will leave Kyrgyzstan and head west to Europe, landing in either Germany or Ireland. We will not know when that happens until he arrives in that country. If he is able to call, he will, but hopefully at least an e-mail. We have known that the turn-around for these flights can be quick, but we are not for sure on how things will happen.

From Europe, he will fly to the USA!!!

And then catch another flight to Ft. Bragg, where he will complete the demobilization process. This can range any number of days, usually 4 - 8, but we aren't sure how the holidays may impact that process.

Once the demob process is complete, he will then come home!

The interesting part of his travels thus far is that he is already separated from his bags! There were some issues leaving the country and the baggage was separated from the soldiers. The military has a very interesting packing process, and Josh has been know to have to pack and re-pack several times for each trip. There are specific numbers of each item in each bag that he has or had to pack to come home and it is likely that he will have to do some wash at some point along the way.

Stay tuned...

Sleeping Well...

Just to note, I can only speak on Josh's behalf, meaning I am not aware of any soldiers who are traveling with him. I do know that the unit has sent a group home already and that Josh is in the second group, but I do not know anyone that is in the group with him or even a number of people from his unit that are traveling with him.

I received a phone call this morning from Josh - still is Kyrgyzstan, but doing really well. He said that he slept wonderfully last night, as I did, along with the rest of our families! Obviously, no new information that he can share. He did say that they "aren't doing much". A group of soldiers (not affiliated with him) had left, so he was able to move to the bottom bunk which was really exciting for him, as he had been on the top bunk since they doubled up at Camp Phoenix.

He was comparing the food to Camp Phoenix. Not really any better or worse, but he said it was different because it was a different contractor. Still talking about the full-size candy bars that they get for dessert!

It's cold and snowy there -- in the mid-20s. I told him "Welcome Home!" and that we were in the 20s with forecast for 8 - 14 inches of snow today! He was excited, as he was hoping for a white Christmas/return home. He said that they were all excited to see the snow because it reminded them all of home.

Where they are at is a big air force base, and there are NY Air Guard people there, so several of the people that are with him are actually running into people that they know. All in all he is doing well.

Again, he didn't share any new information, but at least we know that he is there and doing well.

Until next time...

Start spreading the news...

Bare with me for a moment….

Some folks like to getaway
Take a holiday from the neighborhood
Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood
But he’s takin’ an air force jet on the outbound Afghanistan line
He’s in a New York state of mind!

He’s seen all of the local folk with their loaded camel or a jingle truck
Been traveling round the country under the radar & praying for luck
He knows what he’s needing and he doesn’t want to waste more time
He’s in a New York state of mind!!!

Yes, it is true – Josh is on his way home!!! At 11:30 am local time on December 18 (2:00 am Eastern time in the US), Josh’s flight departed Afghanistan.

He is currently in Krygyzstan for some out-processing. Krygyzstan is northeast of Afghanistan, near China. It's 11 hours ahead of us. (Way to fly east to go west!!) We do not know how long he will be there, but know that they will be traveling/demobilizing for about 2 weeks before arriving in New York. Home for Christmas is definitely not an option, but maybe for New Years! Regardless, he is safe and will be home soon! He called shortly after I arrived at work, and I have yet to take off my coat or change out of my sneakers!! Who cares!!!

We'll keep you posted as the good news continues to come in!!

Just another month, maybe?

Could it be just one more month!? While Josh left on January 19, his official orders started January 17, which means January 16, 2009 would complete his full year! One month from today!

Many of you in the area saw the homecoming last Tuesday of the first 100 to return. There were a few in the group from Josh's unit, but as the article and news stories indicated, there are still over 1200 in Afghanistan from the NY Guard. A few hundred returned back in September as they were deployed last September as part of the advance/transition teams.

We continue to wait for any word from Josh indicating his return. Otherwise, he continues to do well. Decorations for the holidays are in full force in Afghanistan. He has said all year that for any holiday -- the decorations are big -- Constitution Day and all!

We'll keep you posted!

The Weather in Afghanistan

A lot of people have been asking what the weather is in Afghanistan...

The last weather report from Josh was that "the snow was half-way down the mountain".

I did look on weather.com and their daytime highs are in the upper 40s with the overnight lows being in the mid-20s. He'll be in for a little bit of shock when he returns home, but not as drastic as people might think.

And these are the days of our lives...

Waiting! Seems that is what Josh and I are doing a lot of these days. Waiting for any word, any movement to occur that will indicate he is coming home.

E-mails from Josh are quick and sporadic which means he is staying busy. I don't really get a lot of information. Each day more and more of the Illinois National Guard arrives, which means the end is near. They have doubled up in their living quarters -- 2 to a room, so they have 14 people in the b-hut now. Can anyone say crowded?!

Preparations for the holidays are in full swing at home. Still a few purchases to make, but for the most part the shopping is done! Some of the gifts are packaged up and ready for giving, some are still sitting in bags. The tree is not up yet... hopefully soon though. We invested in a really nice artificial tree last year. Though I prefer the smell of the real tree, I don't mind the stress free "up-keep" of the artificial one. It will stay up until Josh is home, so for this year it works really well, as we don't have worry about keeping the tree alive and flourishing. I guess that is why Yankee makes the scented candles!

We'll keep you posted...

It's December!

Woohoo for finally reaching December!!

Question: When is Josh coming home?

Answer: We still don't know.

Sorry to get your hopes up, but many, many people have been asking and I am sure there are others who have wanted to ask. It's not really the answer any of us want to hear, but as I have said many times... "it's the Army!" There is a good chance that we won't know when Josh is coming home until his on a plane or in one of his layover destinations. From there, it will take him about two weeks to get home, which is a safe estimate with factoring in travel time and the demobilization process, among an assortment of bumps in the road that could pop up. As soon as we have any information, we will share it loud and clear. Until then, we just hang on to the thought that it is coming soon!