It's been a month since Josh came home. Either time just seemed to pass by easier or someone played a cruel joke on us for the past year. I swear not a single month seemed to fly by like January has! Our first few weeks did go by rather quickly, and the last few weeks have gone by at a nice pace. I think we are past the "is this going to end?" phase of reintegrating our lives and can just relax and enjoy all that we have waited for. It is wonderful.
Josh had a great first day back at Barry yesterday. He was FULL of stories last night when I got home. He really enjoys his kids and looks forward to today!
Showing posts with label Barry Elementary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barry Elementary. Show all posts
27 January 2009
26 January 2009
Call Me Mr. B
Mr. Bacigalupi returns to the classroom today!!!!! We spent the weekend getting materials for his return -- fabric for the bulletin boards, valentine's day goodies -- and Josh spent a lot of time printing out materials as well. As mentioned, he will be in the classroom Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the morning only. He will spend all day in the classroom on Thursday and Friday. He will "officially" resume all duties in the room on February 2, with the kids first day being February 3.
I returned to work on Thursday afternoon and was in for most of the day on Friday of last week. Today is my first full day back as well. I am honestly looking forward to the return. We're both ready for it. To help with the craziness that this week will bring, I have planned out all of the meals for the week and have started ironing our outfits as well.
I returned to work on Thursday afternoon and was in for most of the day on Friday of last week. Today is my first full day back as well. I am honestly looking forward to the return. We're both ready for it. To help with the craziness that this week will bring, I have planned out all of the meals for the week and have started ironing our outfits as well.
17 October 2008
Traveling Through Salang Pass
This is an e-mail that Josh sent to Barry School this week. It is a pretty good update of what he has been up to.
"Hope you all do not mind my messages, but every once in awhile our battle rhythm is slow...I try to keep busy during the down time by going to the gym, watching movies or AFN-American Forces Network but the treadmill gets old and I get tired of the chuckleheads in there. How many times can you really watch Wedding Crashers and as far as AFN goes I have seen the same Kristie Alley made for TV movie where she goes crazy and keeps foster kids locked in her basement four times since being here. I seriously think AFN is a subsidiary of Lifetime Television. I am really not a fan of Lifetime to begin with, so AFN is kind of a drag. So, I pass the time and get my kicks out of sending e-mail to folks to pass the time. Lucky you guys. haha. Feel free to delete on receipt. I will never know. haha.
"So last week was a really big week for a geek like me. haha. Our platoon is at times tasked, in addition to our other duties, to conduct long range convoy operations. We have been all over. I have been as far east as Jalalabad, as far south as Helmand and Khandhar-a couple of times. Last week, we were tasked with a long range to go to Konduz which is about as far north as you can go in Afghanistan before hitting all the other "Stans". What was great about this trip is we were going to get to go through the famed Salang pass which goes through the Hindu Kush mountains. Kabul is a little over a mile high. The top of the pass reaches just about 11,000 feet. It is a slow and steep climb. Lots of switchbacks and sheer drop offs. At the top of the pass is a 4KM long tunnel that is barely two lanes wide. It has no lights and no ventilation. It was built by the Soviets during their time here. Awesome. Good ol' 24 was a champ climbing the mountain pass. However, I noticed several Soviet tanks were not so lucky as we saw several of them at the bottom of canyons hundreds of feet below us. After seeing these, the platoon sgt. would follow up each time by telling me, "Now, Baci remember I have kids." I mean I was not planning to ruin anyone's day. The tunnel was wild. Due to the lack of any ventilation, smog just hung in the air. When we would pass another large vehicle, the truck would scrape the walls and the other truck b/c it was so narrow. In the middle of the tunnel, you reach the apex of the pass and then start the descent down the other side. More switchbacks and sheer drop offs, more reminders about children back home. When we got to the bottom of the pass, we conducted a tactical refueling drill which is really a fancy way of saying "watch Josh run around as fast as he can with huge fuel cans full of diesel fuel and put as much fuel in the truck as he can before the Lt. decides we have been stopped long enough". As I was refueling, I looked up at the gunner in our truck. His face was completely black from all the smog in the tunnel. What a trip-literally.
"For some reason there was an unusual amount of livestock in the road on this trip and it kind of became a running joke. We almost hit a goat, a sheep, and a camel. You think a deer does serious front end damage. I can not imagine what a camel would do-but there he/she was just running across the road in front of us, and they say an eleven thousand pound vehicle can't stop on a dime. haha. It was great to see the Hindu Kush mountains and go through the Salang Pass after reading and hearing so much about it.
"My other big nerd moment came over the weekend. I grew up literally "Inside the Beltway". My Dad worked for the government. Members of Congress and Senators lived in my suburban town-not the Obama, Clinton, or McCain kind-just average 9-5 congressman and senators. I even profited from it. I had a little lawn mowing business when I was in junior high and I would tool my little mower all around the neighborhood cutting lawns and word of mouth got me a job mowing a senator's lawn. I thought this was so cool. I mean he could have had a huge lawn business cut his lawn but he had this gangly kid cut it with his Craftsman mower. haha. In reality, I think he was too cheap to hire a big lawn mowing business but he was my best paying customer-a whole twenty bucks. Woohoo. Extra cheese on the pizza tonight! Politics was just a part of life. So, when they asked people who would be interested in meeting with a group of NY congressman and woman I was game, plus it got me out of some work. Don't judge. haha. Anyway, one of them was our Congressional Representative-Michael Arcuri. When they asked for people who were willing to meet with them, it really meant that they needed you to pose for pictures, but I didn't care. There was one congresswoman from Nevada in the group and she got up in the turret behind a gun and started swinging it around wildly and posing for pictures. She kind of made everyone a little nervous. haha. This is the link to one of the pictures and articles written about the event. http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/arng/27bct/newsletter/keepingtabs_37.pdf
The others in the pictures are other guys in my unit. As you are looking at the picture, the man directly to my left is SFC. Adams, my platoon sgt. He is the guy I am driving around all the time and warns me about his kids. haha. The vehicle in the background is a Cougar. If you could see the whole grill-you would say yeah that does look like a Cougar. I don't drive that, but it is a new vehicle-so we pulled it out to impress the good congressmen/woman. I think a more effective display would have been to put my patched up truck out there. haha.
"It has gotten a lot cooler here over the last week. I finally had to put away my PT shorts/short sleeve PT shirts and break out my Army issued high speed PT jogging suit. haha. It still reaches the high 60s/low70s but the mornings and the late afternoons/early evenings are really cool. For obvious reasons, the b-huts are non-smoking. I am a non-smoker but 95% of the personnel in my platoon are smokers and lots of socializing in our downtime for our platoon goes on in the smoke shack-a small open air pavillion structure-just outside of our b-hut. So now I am finding I have to bundle up pretty good at night if I am going to stay up on current events in our platoon, unit, and on the FOB. There is more gossip in this place than a junior high cafeteria-no lie.
"Hope you guys are all doing well.. It is almost the weekend! That really doesn't mean anything to me, but the upside to that is that Monday is never a downer. haha. Have a good one. Josh"
"Hope you all do not mind my messages, but every once in awhile our battle rhythm is slow...I try to keep busy during the down time by going to the gym, watching movies or AFN-American Forces Network but the treadmill gets old and I get tired of the chuckleheads in there. How many times can you really watch Wedding Crashers and as far as AFN goes I have seen the same Kristie Alley made for TV movie where she goes crazy and keeps foster kids locked in her basement four times since being here. I seriously think AFN is a subsidiary of Lifetime Television. I am really not a fan of Lifetime to begin with, so AFN is kind of a drag. So, I pass the time and get my kicks out of sending e-mail to folks to pass the time. Lucky you guys. haha. Feel free to delete on receipt. I will never know. haha.
"So last week was a really big week for a geek like me. haha. Our platoon is at times tasked, in addition to our other duties, to conduct long range convoy operations. We have been all over. I have been as far east as Jalalabad, as far south as Helmand and Khandhar-a couple of times. Last week, we were tasked with a long range to go to Konduz which is about as far north as you can go in Afghanistan before hitting all the other "Stans". What was great about this trip is we were going to get to go through the famed Salang pass which goes through the Hindu Kush mountains. Kabul is a little over a mile high. The top of the pass reaches just about 11,000 feet. It is a slow and steep climb. Lots of switchbacks and sheer drop offs. At the top of the pass is a 4KM long tunnel that is barely two lanes wide. It has no lights and no ventilation. It was built by the Soviets during their time here. Awesome. Good ol' 24 was a champ climbing the mountain pass. However, I noticed several Soviet tanks were not so lucky as we saw several of them at the bottom of canyons hundreds of feet below us. After seeing these, the platoon sgt. would follow up each time by telling me, "Now, Baci remember I have kids." I mean I was not planning to ruin anyone's day. The tunnel was wild. Due to the lack of any ventilation, smog just hung in the air. When we would pass another large vehicle, the truck would scrape the walls and the other truck b/c it was so narrow. In the middle of the tunnel, you reach the apex of the pass and then start the descent down the other side. More switchbacks and sheer drop offs, more reminders about children back home. When we got to the bottom of the pass, we conducted a tactical refueling drill which is really a fancy way of saying "watch Josh run around as fast as he can with huge fuel cans full of diesel fuel and put as much fuel in the truck as he can before the Lt. decides we have been stopped long enough". As I was refueling, I looked up at the gunner in our truck. His face was completely black from all the smog in the tunnel. What a trip-literally.
"For some reason there was an unusual amount of livestock in the road on this trip and it kind of became a running joke. We almost hit a goat, a sheep, and a camel. You think a deer does serious front end damage. I can not imagine what a camel would do-but there he/she was just running across the road in front of us, and they say an eleven thousand pound vehicle can't stop on a dime. haha. It was great to see the Hindu Kush mountains and go through the Salang Pass after reading and hearing so much about it.
"My other big nerd moment came over the weekend. I grew up literally "Inside the Beltway". My Dad worked for the government. Members of Congress and Senators lived in my suburban town-not the Obama, Clinton, or McCain kind-just average 9-5 congressman and senators. I even profited from it. I had a little lawn mowing business when I was in junior high and I would tool my little mower all around the neighborhood cutting lawns and word of mouth got me a job mowing a senator's lawn. I thought this was so cool. I mean he could have had a huge lawn business cut his lawn but he had this gangly kid cut it with his Craftsman mower. haha. In reality, I think he was too cheap to hire a big lawn mowing business but he was my best paying customer-a whole twenty bucks. Woohoo. Extra cheese on the pizza tonight! Politics was just a part of life. So, when they asked people who would be interested in meeting with a group of NY congressman and woman I was game, plus it got me out of some work. Don't judge. haha. Anyway, one of them was our Congressional Representative-Michael Arcuri. When they asked for people who were willing to meet with them, it really meant that they needed you to pose for pictures, but I didn't care. There was one congresswoman from Nevada in the group and she got up in the turret behind a gun and started swinging it around wildly and posing for pictures. She kind of made everyone a little nervous. haha. This is the link to one of the pictures and articles written about the event. http://www.dmna.state.ny.us/arng/27bct/newsletter/keepingtabs_37.pdf
The others in the pictures are other guys in my unit. As you are looking at the picture, the man directly to my left is SFC. Adams, my platoon sgt. He is the guy I am driving around all the time and warns me about his kids. haha. The vehicle in the background is a Cougar. If you could see the whole grill-you would say yeah that does look like a Cougar. I don't drive that, but it is a new vehicle-so we pulled it out to impress the good congressmen/woman. I think a more effective display would have been to put my patched up truck out there. haha.
"It has gotten a lot cooler here over the last week. I finally had to put away my PT shorts/short sleeve PT shirts and break out my Army issued high speed PT jogging suit. haha. It still reaches the high 60s/low70s but the mornings and the late afternoons/early evenings are really cool. For obvious reasons, the b-huts are non-smoking. I am a non-smoker but 95% of the personnel in my platoon are smokers and lots of socializing in our downtime for our platoon goes on in the smoke shack-a small open air pavillion structure-just outside of our b-hut. So now I am finding I have to bundle up pretty good at night if I am going to stay up on current events in our platoon, unit, and on the FOB. There is more gossip in this place than a junior high cafeteria-no lie.
"Hope you guys are all doing well.. It is almost the weekend! That really doesn't mean anything to me, but the upside to that is that Monday is never a downer. haha. Have a good one. Josh"
16 September 2008
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."
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."
04 September 2008
"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
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!
25 June 2008
Truck Troubles and Hot Heat
Josh shared the following in an e-mail to me today. He sounds like a completely different person when talking about the truck - very mechanic sounding. I can say that because he has even admitted that he is learning quite a bit from the mechanics.
"My truck had a bad day. It needs a new tire-two of the lugnuts/bolts completely sheared off-combo of heat and mechanic over torquing, two new ball joints, and the battery is shot. Can you believe I just got new brakes two days ago? My second set since being here. Haha. They said they will need to be replaced in less than a month. Can you imagine? All of the stuff that needs to be repaired happened in one day. The good thing is it never broke down. It was so hot today. Somebody said it was 120, which I doubt, but close. The heat just hits you like a wave from a furnace."
In other news, we are very excited about the nomination of Lt. Gen. Dunwoody, as the first female to be a four star General in the Army. The news hits close to home, as she was a Class of 1975 graduate of SUNY Cortland! It has been the buzz around campus, and of course, something exciting to share with Josh from home.
If Josh were home right now, he would be celebrating the end of the school year this week. In recent school news, Mr. Amante, his principal, is retiring, so Josh will return to a new principal from Ithaca City Schools, but a Cortland resident. There was a nice article featured in the Cortland Standard last week on Mr. Amante.
"My truck had a bad day. It needs a new tire-two of the lugnuts/bolts completely sheared off-combo of heat and mechanic over torquing, two new ball joints, and the battery is shot. Can you believe I just got new brakes two days ago? My second set since being here. Haha. They said they will need to be replaced in less than a month. Can you imagine? All of the stuff that needs to be repaired happened in one day. The good thing is it never broke down. It was so hot today. Somebody said it was 120, which I doubt, but close. The heat just hits you like a wave from a furnace."
In other news, we are very excited about the nomination of Lt. Gen. Dunwoody, as the first female to be a four star General in the Army. The news hits close to home, as she was a Class of 1975 graduate of SUNY Cortland! It has been the buzz around campus, and of course, something exciting to share with Josh from home.
If Josh were home right now, he would be celebrating the end of the school year this week. In recent school news, Mr. Amante, his principal, is retiring, so Josh will return to a new principal from Ithaca City Schools, but a Cortland resident. There was a nice article featured in the Cortland Standard last week on Mr. Amante.
20 June 2008
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
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
05 May 2008
A BIG POSTING . . .
I am not even sure where to begin or what an appropriate title would be for this whole posting. It has been a crazy 30 hours or so. Josh was able to sign-on to IM on Sunday morning, so we were able to catch up. To sum it up, he was "having a day," which is to be expected. Somehow though, even in his venting, he appears quite entertaining.
And to add to another milestone, Josh left the States one month ago today!! Woohoo - a great reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!
The following is an e-mail that Josh sent to the teachers at Barry on Tuesday morning (Afghanistan time) . . .
Greetings from the wild world of Afghanistan! Is it June yet? I can't believe it is already May. I am sure you all feel a little different. I look forward to June too, because it is one more month down.
I continue to drive all over Afghanistan.
I chose to think of the FOB as a college campus. You haveyour P/X similar to a bookstore complete with over priced paraphenalia. There is a gym. A lot of people go to the gym, but just like a lot of gyms, people go to be seen and not really be seen doing anything. I am following several interesting relationships in the gym. I get a little bored and a little nosy. It is a bit like Days of Our Lives in the gym. There is the dining hall just like a college's dining hall. They are both alike in that they serve up some wicked interesting dishes. Although this dining hall is a step up from my college's dining hall. My school in Virginia had a contract with a food service agency whoseonly other client was the Virginia State Correctional Facility System. So, the dining hall at Camp Phoenix is a huge step up for me. Then there is the housing, just like dorms. I once again am sharing a bathroom with lots of people who don't clean up after themselves. hahaha. Darci would probably say the same thing about sharing a bathroom with me. haha
Speaking of housing, this was a big week for me. We finally moved into our perm. party housing. I have an 8x8 cubicle space that is all mine to live in. It honestly is a piece of heaven. After months of living in tents with cots and open bays with bunk beds, it was amazing to walk into a semi-private partitioned space of plywood and know that it was all yours. It even has a make shift towel rack and someone built cubbies that I can store things in. Honestly, everytime I walk into it, the heavens open and light shines down and angels sing AHHHHH! You may think it is silly, but seriously it is the best corner of the world right now.
Of course, it needed a little cleaning before move in. The previous owner thought it was cool to add texture to the wall by blowing and wiping his boogers on the wall. Who am I to judge. I know, gross, but I never said Afghanistan was going to be pretty. However, being the Kindergarten teacher I am, this did not really phase me. I just pretended a five year old did it then I busted out a bottle of windshield washer fluid from the humvee (didn't have anything else) and went to town. A half hour later and some hand sanitizer, I was set. When you take daily malaria pills, you don'treally worry what you might catch from boogers. haha.
Time is going bypretty quickly. Getting out... I wish we got to talk and get to know more of the people here. So many times as we are moving about, we get thumbs up and big toothy grins from the kids. The other day, I did get the finger from a little guy. Well, what are you going to do. You can not make everybody happy, and if the worse I get from him is the finger, well big deal.
I am getting to be a bit of a mechanic... okay that is a lie, but I am getting to know the mechanics really well. A humvee is going for about a 130,000 dollars a pop, and it is the most delicatething I have ever encountered. So far, I have replaced both front and back brakes, a mirror, a ventvalve line (which I though was a brake line and got a real good bellylaugh from the head mechanic when I told him I tore a brake line), three tires, two head lights, one tail light, a turret, a parking brake handle, a leaky A/C, and the thing only has 15,000 miles on it.
I told Darci (I experienced) one of the proudest moments I have ever had in the Army. It was something small, but it just was a great example of joes helping joes.
In the US, I would consider my humvee a big lemon, but it kind of becomes like a pet or a piece of you. I kind of talk to it like Herbie. In a sea of parked humvees, I can find mine immediately, mainly because it needs a new suspension kit and it sags in the back. ha. We go up a lot of steep hills, and narrow streets withmassive drop offs, and just plain craziness. Often times, I tell the truck "Come on, you can do it, stay true." Most of the time I say it my head, but sometimes it comes out. We all wear Britney Spears headsets in the truck, so we can hear each other. I caught myself talking out loud, and everyone else was saying what are you saying.
Another bad habit I have while driving in stressful conditions is humming, but I have pretty much been able to curb that habit with some corrective action. That is the Army's way of saying what we would call re-directing. Only, sometimes corrective action involves a bit of yelling. haha. It is all in good fun though. Our team gets along great, I think. haha.
Well, it is past my bedtime. I hope I haven't bored you all. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. Take care of each other. -- Josh
And to add to another milestone, Josh left the States one month ago today!! Woohoo - a great reason to celebrate Cinco de Mayo!
The following is an e-mail that Josh sent to the teachers at Barry on Tuesday morning (Afghanistan time) . . .
Greetings from the wild world of Afghanistan! Is it June yet? I can't believe it is already May. I am sure you all feel a little different. I look forward to June too, because it is one more month down.
I continue to drive all over Afghanistan.
I chose to think of the FOB as a college campus. You haveyour P/X similar to a bookstore complete with over priced paraphenalia. There is a gym. A lot of people go to the gym, but just like a lot of gyms, people go to be seen and not really be seen doing anything. I am following several interesting relationships in the gym. I get a little bored and a little nosy. It is a bit like Days of Our Lives in the gym. There is the dining hall just like a college's dining hall. They are both alike in that they serve up some wicked interesting dishes. Although this dining hall is a step up from my college's dining hall. My school in Virginia had a contract with a food service agency whoseonly other client was the Virginia State Correctional Facility System. So, the dining hall at Camp Phoenix is a huge step up for me. Then there is the housing, just like dorms. I once again am sharing a bathroom with lots of people who don't clean up after themselves. hahaha. Darci would probably say the same thing about sharing a bathroom with me. haha
Speaking of housing, this was a big week for me. We finally moved into our perm. party housing. I have an 8x8 cubicle space that is all mine to live in. It honestly is a piece of heaven. After months of living in tents with cots and open bays with bunk beds, it was amazing to walk into a semi-private partitioned space of plywood and know that it was all yours. It even has a make shift towel rack and someone built cubbies that I can store things in. Honestly, everytime I walk into it, the heavens open and light shines down and angels sing AHHHHH! You may think it is silly, but seriously it is the best corner of the world right now.
Of course, it needed a little cleaning before move in. The previous owner thought it was cool to add texture to the wall by blowing and wiping his boogers on the wall. Who am I to judge. I know, gross, but I never said Afghanistan was going to be pretty. However, being the Kindergarten teacher I am, this did not really phase me. I just pretended a five year old did it then I busted out a bottle of windshield washer fluid from the humvee (didn't have anything else) and went to town. A half hour later and some hand sanitizer, I was set. When you take daily malaria pills, you don'treally worry what you might catch from boogers. haha.
Time is going bypretty quickly. Getting out... I wish we got to talk and get to know more of the people here. So many times as we are moving about, we get thumbs up and big toothy grins from the kids. The other day, I did get the finger from a little guy. Well, what are you going to do. You can not make everybody happy, and if the worse I get from him is the finger, well big deal.
I am getting to be a bit of a mechanic... okay that is a lie, but I am getting to know the mechanics really well. A humvee is going for about a 130,000 dollars a pop, and it is the most delicatething I have ever encountered. So far, I have replaced both front and back brakes, a mirror, a ventvalve line (which I though was a brake line and got a real good bellylaugh from the head mechanic when I told him I tore a brake line), three tires, two head lights, one tail light, a turret, a parking brake handle, a leaky A/C, and the thing only has 15,000 miles on it.
I told Darci (I experienced) one of the proudest moments I have ever had in the Army. It was something small, but it just was a great example of joes helping joes.
In the US, I would consider my humvee a big lemon, but it kind of becomes like a pet or a piece of you. I kind of talk to it like Herbie. In a sea of parked humvees, I can find mine immediately, mainly because it needs a new suspension kit and it sags in the back. ha. We go up a lot of steep hills, and narrow streets withmassive drop offs, and just plain craziness. Often times, I tell the truck "Come on, you can do it, stay true." Most of the time I say it my head, but sometimes it comes out. We all wear Britney Spears headsets in the truck, so we can hear each other. I caught myself talking out loud, and everyone else was saying what are you saying.
Another bad habit I have while driving in stressful conditions is humming, but I have pretty much been able to curb that habit with some corrective action. That is the Army's way of saying what we would call re-directing. Only, sometimes corrective action involves a bit of yelling. haha. It is all in good fun though. Our team gets along great, I think. haha.
Well, it is past my bedtime. I hope I haven't bored you all. I am looking forward to seeing you all soon. Take care of each other. -- Josh
06 March 2008
10,392 Cookies Arrived!
The cookies arrived on Tuesday, March 4, as expected. I received a text message from Josh that night... "Oh my gosh the cookies arrived today everyone loves them we had them broken down and in the other platoons in less than 30 minutes"
Based on the picture, there were actually 37 cases of cookies that were delivered. I did not realize that the other Girl Scout Troop also contributed about 13 cases to the cause. And yes, I did figure it out to be 10,392 cookies! (Give or take a few hundred!) I am looking forward to talking to Josh on the phone to get the full story of the arrival. I will be sure to post more then, when that happens. They are in some intense training right now, so the cookies were certainly delivered at the right time. A lot of long days - late nights and early mornings - for them right now. They will be in this heavy training until approximately March 14th and then will do some more soldier readiness checks.
28 February 2008
Great Cookie Send-Off
I visited Barry Elementary this morning. At the Mr. B Day Ceremony that the school held in December, I gave the school a large picture of Josh. The school has since hung it up on a bulletin board outside of the Cafeteria. A heart is placed on the bulletin board each day that Josh is gone from school. Mrs. Stark informed me that the kindergartners practice counting each day while they are waiting in line for lunch. Here's a snapshot of the bulletin board...
Shortly after Josh's unit left for Ft. Bragg, one of the leaders from the local Brownie troop contacted me regarding coordinating a Brownie service project for Josh's unit. Brownie Troop 38 hoped to send one box for each of the soldiers in Delta Company. Family, friends, teachers, and local community members either purchased boxes or donated money toward the purchase of cookies. This morning was the Great Cookie Send-Off. Each of the cases below contains 12 boxes of cookies. Far exceeding their goal, the girls were able to send roughly 24 cases or 288 boxes of cookies to Josh's Unit in Ft. Bragg.
Brownie Troop 38 also wrote a poem for Josh and each of the girls in the troop wrote a letter to him.
5 boxes @ roughly 70 pounds each = 350 pounds of cookies!!
Here is a picture of the Brownie and Girl Scout troops from the Cortland/Homer area, along with Mr. Amante (principal) and "Mrs. B".
Thank you again to those of you who coordinated or contributed to the service project and for thinking of Josh's National Guard unit!
Check back next week for an update on the unit's reaction to the cookie arrival! Josh and some of the officers know that something "large" is coming, but has no idea on how much or of what!! It should be a pleasant surprise and a nice treat after the MREs!
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