Has it really been a month?

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!

525,600 Minutes

How do you measure, measure a year?

This post is a week delayed and unfortunately in the past week, I have forgotten most of what I wanted to share. I meant to post on January 19, exactly a year after Josh left for Ft. Bragg.

It's amazing to think of everything that happened in the past year. I think it is easiest to see the duration of the deployment when you look at before and after pictures of our nieces and nephews. Dominic, Jonathan, Cassie, Francesca and Hailey each grew leaps and bounds. Dominic is now in kindergarten and Jonathan will be heading off to pre-school next year. When Josh left, Cassie, Francesa and Hailey were crawling. Cassie had no hair and Francesca's hair was about 5 inches shorter than it is today. Today they are running all over, getting into everything, developing very unique personalities that weren't so apparent a year ago and getting ready to take on the age of 2. Nephews #3 and 4 and Niece #4 - Takoda, TJ and Ella all arrived in the past year. Diane's entire pregnancy with the twins occurred while Josh was gone and he met them when they were 3 months and 3 days old.

As for Josh and I, I think it is harder to see the changes that occured while he was gone. We both think we have aged, but I am guessing (hoping) that is not so apparent to others.

It will be interesting to see what changes are in store for Josh and I in the coming year. Where will be on January 19, 2010?

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!

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!

"The Incredible Little Car Who Shifts for Himself!"

Things with Josh are going well. He greatly appreciated everyone's birthday wishes from 1/2 way around the world. As many of you know, since you participated in it, there was a little drive to see how many birthday cards he could receive. We don't have an official number as of yet, but he stopped counting at 300!!! They kept pouring in. He even recieved 21 cards in the mail on his birthday! We'll count them once he returns home! Perhaps I will even post a picture of them all displayed, though I envision setting them all up and a dominoe reaction occuring before we ever get to the end.


I missed my usual monthly milestone for the 19th of the month! Wednesday was actually a pretty long day, but it is worth mentioning that November 19th brought us to the double digits of Josh being gone -- 10 months! This is exciting because his deployment is supposed to be 12 months, so we are inching our way closer!


The good news is that the holidays are just around the corner, which again, means Josh's homecoming is not far off either. It's been a long year for sure and we look forward to the new year and everything it will bring!


I was blessed with two great phone calls from Josh this week - which is (unfortunately) a rare treat (the number of them that is!). He is doing well and looks forward to coming home with each passing day. Safe to say, the 7 by 7 plywood room has lost it's luster, in addition to close living quarters within the hut. He continues to stay busy by car shopping from afar. This week's online discovery... Reconditioned Beetles from the 70s...

Josh love his beetles. He dressed up as Herbie when he was a little tyke, around age 5. Did you know that it took about 100 vehicles to make the Herbie movie? Each vehicle was specifically made for each of his stunts, i.e driving backwards meant the chasis was turned around, a sports car motor was installed for it to do wheelies, etc. Amazing what it took to produce a movie before special effects and computer imaging! No, I did not know this little fact. Josh certainly may have, but I did not! A local car salesman buys replica cars from movies and his latest purchase was a HERBIE complete with the 53 and stripes! There was an article in the local newspaper about it, so I learned some "fast facts"!

On the other side of the world... I have been staying busy by Christmas shopping, though it was a rough start. I went last weekend on Friday and Saturday to different locations and only had some minor luck on Friday and nothing was checked off the list on Saturday. Thankfully, this week, I was able to accomplish quite a bit. I am even close to making the list of what is left to get and where. Yet in comparison to last year, I am a quite a bit behind as I had all presents purchased and wrapped, with the exception of a few things that had to wait. Hopefully a few more trips is all it will take! At times I do miss the spirit of shopping in December, but the leisurely approach and stress-free experience that I had this week makes it hard to not want anything but doing it in advance! I have been sending Josh links to everything I have purchased for everyone so that he can see it all in advance. We have exchanged a lot of "idea e-mails" and this gives him an opportunity to weigh-in on the gift, just as if we were in the mall together. (Except it might require a return trip. Thankfully though, I am "batting a thousand" so far!)

And for the seventh time . . .

. . . It's the 5th of the month! Which means Josh has been in Afghanistan... you guessed it... 7 months OR 214 days!! Stay safe Josh, you are close to coming home! xoxoxo

The Four Letter S-Word

Anyone want to take a guess... SNOW! It has started to arrive in Afghanistan, just along the mountains, but it is coming. Josh writes, "There is snow on the mountains again. Every night it snows a little bit, enough to coat the top of the mountains, but by mid morning all the snow is gone. It still gets to warm up there during the day." Of course, Afghanistan isn't the only place that is seeing snow. We are actually in the forecast for a light, light coating (possibly) overnight. I guess what is most exciting about this is that we have returned to the Fall/Winter here in NY, and Josh left when there was snow on the ground... so we are approaching his return.

Josh is away right now on a mission/job, though he is stationed at another FOB, not moving around the country. They do not have internet connections for each of the soldiers, but there is a computer station where he waits in line to write. Things are going well for the most part. He has some evening duties, so he is adjusting his sleep schedule accordingly. He has been visiting the gym each day as well. Which according to some people, they thought he needed it... Josh writes, "This guy from this other platoon who is with us here at Phoenix said the other day that I must have taken up running and biking in the gym because I was getting heavy before the deployment. Was I getting fat before we left?? I did not thinks so; I mean I carried a little more weight before we left, but I do not think I was heavy. Do you? Be honest." NO, Josh, not at all!

I missed the monthly posting for the 19th of the month. Hopefully, if all goes as planned, three months from now, Josh will be home, safe and sound. We have not heard anything on a return date. Everyone is hearing something different. The replacements are supposed to arrive late next month, but we are not sure how long it will take for him to leave Afghanistan. Of course, the route back is long and complicated and he won't come directly home. The will "demob" somewhere in the US, possibly Ft. Bragg or possibly elsewhere (anything closer would be better)! My 19th of the month treat was a sports massage following the marathon. It worked it's magic.

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 . . .

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!!

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!

Au revoir August!

Josh called today! It was exciting since I hadn't talked to him in awhile. His mood was a little "down in the dumps" and rightfully so, since he lost his prized possession that he had over there with him. He didn't 'lose' the iPod, but it is certainly out of commission after falling from his seat just as he shut the 300 pound humvee door. It has more of a boomerang shape to it these days. Luckily, he called at the right time - I was at the mall (yay for Apple stores!) and I never made it to the post office yesterday with his package! So, I will definitely be making my way to the post office on Tuesday and, by the end of the week, he should have a new iPod. Although this time, he is getting the shuffle... gotta love the clip feature on it. In the meantime, he can at least listen to his music from the computer. As I told him, we can replace an iPod!

While he has appreciated every package that has been sent his way for the Afghani people, please know that they can no longer accept items to be passed out. These items have been removed from the list at the bottom of the blog. This was a decision that was made many levels above Josh. They are still doing humitarian aid drops, but with items provided by the government.

As you can tell, it is the end of August - a time that comes with mixed emotions! It means that September is finally here! This is a benchmark that Josh has been looking foward to for a long time. However, it also marks the start of the school year, of which Josh is missing. He longs for the days when he will be back in the classroom, in a job that he loves. There are also a lot of people preparing for leave. September seems to be a big month for his group. Some mixed emotions on how people are behaving prior to leave and such. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, Taliban activity will decrease in Afghanistan. We can hope!

Seventh Heaven!

Important news first... a much needed e-mail from Josh. As everyone is probably seeing in the news this morning, there was some activity in Afghanistan over night.

He did share this in the e-mail that I thought I would share with all of you...
"Myself and some of the other drivers stick together alot. We have kind of formed our own driver's union. haha. We all exchange tips and advice. It really is starting to get cooler and cooler, especially at night. The big motorpool has twelve snowplow kits waiting to be installed on trucks, so that can not be good. haha. We lost all our parking, due to some new construction on the FOB, so we have been busy acquiring real estate much to many of a Sgt. Major's and Colonel's frustration. haha I continue to perform death defying driving in our truck. Although driving through dust, over rocks and through poop water is losing its novelty. haha. Just a few more months. haha."

Josh has said on numerous occassions that the terrain is what makes for an interesting ride, as well as the narrow, narrow "roads". His truck escorted a "VIP" one day and the individual was a bit shocked at the conditions. As Josh wrote, "He called me a kid all day and referred to me as 'Driver'. I felt like Morgan Freeman in Driving Miss Daisy. He panicked rather easily and I felt like I was a kid with a permit and my parent was allowing me to practice driving. He would let out gasps and grip the door handle, and more than once I heard him banging the floorboard as he was trying to brake. It was rather entertaining... told me I did a fine job - big hand shake."

Today is the 19th!! SEVEN months down!! WOOOOOWOOOO!!!! As I have shared with some people, I treat myself to something "special" on or around the 19th of each month. As I receive gift cards or certificates for local spas, salons, etc., I save them for these occassions. With the semester/school year gearing up, this month's treat was greatly appreciated.

It's the 5th of the Month!

Well, it's August 5th, so Josh's unit has been in country now for 4 months. Of course, we had just under a month where Josh was not involved in the day to day business over there. Sometimes I still wish we had that time. I realized that after this weekend's action over there and Josh sending his "I'm fine" e-mail how hard it is to get back into that mindset of hearing that information or waiting for those e-mails from him.

Josh shared the following in an e-mail this morning . . .
"I know people are going to ask because they just extended those marines 30 days, but we have not heard anything about extending us. As far as I know, we are on time arrivals. Everyone needs to remember that the marines were just supposed to be a quick fix, there was not going to be anybody replacing them. They were supposed to come in clean it up and move on. Ithink they had to extend them b/c they no one in place to replace them. The news article and the rumors around here are saying that units expected to go to Iraq at the end of the year and the beginning of next year will be coming here instead. The illinois unit that is coming to replace us is bringing nearly three thousand troops ( i read it in a press release)."

I finally dropped off the camera disks to Walgreens today -- woohoo! I will be picking them up on my way home and posting them tonight!

The Missing Piece and Catching some Zzzzzzzzs

So, in all honesty, I went home tonight from work and said that before I did anything I was going to post the photos from Josh's time at home. I had both disks (about 300 photos to upload) and went to connect the camera to the cable and didn't find the cable. I continued to search for the cable for a half an hour or so, literally searching the entire house until I realized that the cable was not in the house. It was not in Cortland and not in New York state either. I was beginning to think that maybe I took it to Virginia and left it in the hotel room. All of which then triggered, the real location of it... Josh's laptop bag which of course... IS IN AFGHANISTAN!!! Yes, the cable that I need to download my pictures is now a half a world away from me. I remembered that I had packed it in the laptop bag when we went to Virginia so that I could download all of the pictures to Josh's computer, so that he would have them to look at while he was there. Unfortunately, that never happened and I never retreived the cable cord before he left. OOOPS. So, I will drop off the disks tomorrow on my way to work and have them loaded to a CD to download on the computer tomorrow.

Last night, I woke up at 12:15 a.m. and noticed that the computer screen was blinking with an IM! It was Josh!! He had started writing at 12:00, so I said "hi". I woke up 8 minutes later, after saying just that one word to answer his question if I had fallen asleep. I then "disappeared" which triggered him to ask if I had fallen asleep again. My response was "No, I was in the kitchen eating a brownie." I really thought that might help keep me up. It was 8:30 - 9:00 a.m. there and he had been up for a bit. We continued our conversation for a bit and then I woke up at 4:15 a.m. this morning. I just couldn't keep my eyes open long enough to carry on a conversation. It was a bit comical to read this morning, with the timestamp added in.

Later today, I received a lengthy e-mail from Josh. It's been a slow couple of days. He said that it is hard to believe that he hasn't even been back a week yet and that the leave feels like a dream. Here are some bits and pieces of the e-mails I received this week ...

"I started to make a tear a ring a day chain counting down the 100 days until Thanksgiving which begins August 19th. haha. I figure by turkey day, they will be almost here. Thanksgiving was just a good day to pick. haha."

Clearly, this will explain some of what Josh did while he was home. "Well, I am really sorry but I broke down and bought a little TV for my room. It was 79.00. I used the debit card. The PX has a new debit card system. It is just like the one in the PX's in the states, so it was secure. It is so nice to have it in my room connected to the cable." (We have had several conversations on how secure or unsecure some of the card systems are over there, so I thought it was entertaining that he rationalized the whole purchase!)

"My little tv is great. I got to watch part of the TODAY show and some other shows. The bad thing is that it does not have a headphone jack and even when it is on volume one it is still pretty loud. You know it must be if I can hear it clearly on 1. Everyone says that it is not too loud and it does not bother them, but I still just watch in the afternoon or late morning, depending on when we are around."

This was my favorite e-mail from the week, and it was the entire e-mail . . . "I LOVE YOU"


Also, Josh's Mom sent me this in an e-mail forward today and I thought it would be a nice addition to the blog...

Here is a soldier stationed in Iraq , stationed in a big sand box.. He asked his wife to send him dirt ( U.S. soil), fertilizer, and some grass seed so that he can have the sweet aroma, and feel the grass grow beneath his feet, When the men of the squadron have a mission that they are going on, they take turns walking through the grass and the American soil -- to bring them good luck.

If you notice, he is even cutting the grass with a pair of a scissors. Sometimes we are in such a hurry that we don't stop and think about the little things that we take for granted. Upon receiving this, say a little prayer for our soldiers that give and give (and give up) so unselfishly for us.

For Josh, it is already August 1st, so Happy August, Josh! Another calendar month down. Check back this weekend for photos provided that there are no issues with my attempt to upload!

Hmmm... What could be up?

SURPRISE, SURPRISE, SURPRISE ! ! ! ! !

(I'll post the pics later tonight, but for now... this might explain the lack of updates!)

Josh was granted leave from Afghanistan and was HOME in the USA from July 6 - 22!!!!! It's was a long adventure. It took 7 days for him to get from Camp Phoenix to Cortland, but seven fewer days of being out and about or in the field.

Why did we keep it so quiet? With the many changes that we have experienced in the Army, we did not want to get people's hopes up and then have the Army "change plans." It obviously was not a quick trip home and the itinerary changed several times in the days and weeks prior to his arrival. It honestly gave Josh and I something to talk about each of the few times that he called. We would share our newest ideas for "surprise tactics" amongst family. And actually, now that I remember, I, myself only found out a few weeks before hand. It's was a hard secret to keep, but certainly worth the excitement and joy that everyone experienced during his visit!


And What to My Wondering Eyes Did Appear?!?! . . . coming through the security gates at Ithaca's airport! (July 6, approximately 10:40 p.m.)

We know that the 13th was a difficult day for our US forces in Afghanistan and we are sure that some of you were a bit concerned by the death of the 9 US soldiers. As you know now, Josh was a safe and sound on US soil.

Boilermaker 2008 - July 13 - Utica, NY

I ran the Boilermaker 15K on Sunday, July 13. It was a wonderful run, and even better having Josh there to cheer for me. He even made a sign - "I travelled from Afghanistan to cheer for Darci - 5815!" It certainly was a conversation piece, but to Josh's surprise it actually reconnected him with his old first seargeant from the company. He (first seargent) changed units prior to the deployment. While running, he saw Josh's sign and actually ran back to him after he realized who Josh was. Hopefully, it didn't throw off his time too much. Again, it was a great run and I finished it in approximately 1:29:06, though due to a timing snafu at the starting line, I may never know my official net time.

The Boilermaker is a very well-known 15K run. In fact, the top 10 males were all from Kenya or Ethopia. Even more well-known is the Post-Race Party, held outside of one of Utica's breweries. We skipped the party to head back to Cortland for our next adventure of Josh's leave.

Visiting Virginia - July 13 - 17

Immediately after the Boilermaker, we travelled back to Cortland for a quick shower and then off to Virginia to visit with Josh's family.

Meeting Takoda . . .

We stayed in luxury for this visit - The Ritz-Carlton! We can thank the military/government discount for that one! It was wonderful - such wonderful treatment - and great soap!!!

Eventhough the Washington, D.C. area is home, we certainly played the tourist part rather well. On the 14th, we visited the Newseum... We highly recommend this site to anyone visiting the area. It's right along Pennsylvania Avenue and provides a great photo op of the Capitol Building. Here are some photos of the Newseum.

Thanks to Jen's connections, we landed a great tour of the Pentagon on the 15th. This was no ordinary Pentagon Tour. Unfortunately, due to obvious reasons, photography was not allowed on Pentagon grounds. We did see the interior 9/11 Pentagon Memorial which is located at the exact location of the impact. Looking out the windows, we could see the finishing work on the exterior Memorial that will be dedicated this September 11.

Our friend Wendy also came to visit on the 15th. Her birthday was the 18th, so it was a wonderful early present for her.

On the 16th, we headed off to the Baltimore Aquarium. What a sight! It was my first visit to both Baltimore and an aquarium... quite exciting and such a great day. We'll be planning a return trip to Baltimore for a long weekend once Josh returns.

We met with Josh's new principal on the 18th. It was a great opportunity for the two of them to chat and for Rosero to reassure Josh of his position, grade, and what might come upon his return.

Some pictures are worth a thousand words . . . and then some . . . Here are the reactions of friends and family who saw Josh for the first time since January and/or March . . . Excuse the "quality" of some. They might appear to be blurred, but some reactions were a bit quick to capture!


We know that many of you did not know about this or have a chance to see Josh while he was home. The two weeks were really important for us to see each other and you can only imagine what another round of "farewells" could be like in this situation. We continue to appreciate everyone's support and encouragement through this time.


As Josh said before he left, this goodbye is necessary in order to say hello again.


Six months down as of Saturday, July 19. Stay safe, Josh. We all love you!

High Five!

Well today is the 19th, so we have made it through another month. We are now up to five, almost 1/2 way there. I was fortunate enough to get a phone call from Josh today as well, only a 15 day wait this time. He seemed to be doing well, but was really tired. He said that they have been very busy and that when they are told today will be a "light day", it is anything but light. As he told his brother Jesse, he never knows what they are doing from day to day. Hopefully, I will be able to post a message from him here soon.

The Phone Rings!

This posting is a bit delayed, but after 34 days. . . Josh called! Yes, we had chatted on IM and/or e-mail from time to time, but to hear his voice is something entirely different. Quite honestly, the e-mails came few and far between over the course of that time as well. I had last heard from him on May 1 and he called last Wednesday! He was tired. They are working very hard over there and stay pretty busy. It was tough to hang up the phone. We just wanted to stay connected for any amount of time longer.

I received an e-mail from him this morning. Here are some portions of that message...

"Everyone has been talking about the hot weather back at home. It is quite the talk of the town. This is funny because it was a 110 here today."

"We were watching the news and the economy just seems to be capsizing. The dollar is down against every major currency except the Canadian dollar and the Mexican peso. Food prices are up, stocks are down, and (soldier) said that gas in Binghamton is $4.25. The news said that gas in NY could reach five dollars by the end of the summer. Good gravy!" (Thanks for reminding us, Josh! haha!)

Josh has been over there for 2 months now. It's sad to think that there is still so much more ahead of us. However, two months down is better than him still being in Fort Bragg.

Your continued thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated!

Hodge Podge of an Update

This post has been in the works for about a week. Sorry for not posting sooner. The good news is that the title remained the same; I just kept adding more stuff to it.

Messages from Josh . . . Everyone enjoys hearing "Josh's voice" through the posts, so I try to copy and paste excerpts from our e-mails. Here is one comment that I found highly entertaining... "It keeps getting hotter, and the hotter it gets, the more flies there are. The flies are my new thermometer . . . a little flies - cool or windy . . . the air thick with flies - hot." Sounds similar to the one bump small town comment! He said that it is about 90 degrees there. Add in a uniform and body armor and anything else that they are carrying around and it adds up to uncomfortable!

Josh helped to explain what some of the terms mean in regards to people as well.

Foreign Nationals - Afghanis or any other group
Coalition Forces - Any non-American military group
Host Nation - Afghanistan

As Josh said, "It is so funny it makes it sound like they are hosting a sleepover we were invited to . . ."

Here are some pictures that I can share. The descriptions were written by Josh. Enjoy!

Out and about...
Just me...
Twenty-two point turn, with twenty-two backseat drivers...

Still turning...

Almost there... like watching someone's vacation photos... I know...


Not a very good pic, but this is a small jingle truck - the jingles are on the bottom of the truck...




Home again, home again, jiggety-jig...



Out and about...

A curious guy - checking out the humvee before we left... (I love this picture!)

Here are some pictures of Josh's 8 x 8 piece of heaven.

My "hooch" - back wall...

My "hooch" - side wall...

My "hooch" - other wall...

Yesterday was the 19th, so we made it through another month since they left on January 19th. There are days when the four months feels like it has flown by, but truth be told, most of the time, it feels as though time passes very slowly.

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

Wish I May, Wish I Might...

About 9 hours after the last post, Josh wrote me on IM. It was so wonderful to chat with him. He seems to be doing well, but anxious to get into their permanent housing (see the quote below). He shared the following pictures, along with the following commentary... Another soldier took these and Josh is driving the truck that you see in the pictures.

"Yes, I am driving it. haha Aren't I doing a great job? You can't tell, but the roads are super tiny."

This is one of our soldiers and one the of the South Carolina soldiers.

Water for the kids . . .

Here are some different things that Josh shared when we were chatting...

In response Rich Brown's latest comment about "the mud not always being mud"... "I know what you mean, I was out and saw lots of different kinds of poop!"

In response to asking how he was doing... "There are moments when it seems all very overwhelming, but you try and go about your day as normal as possible, without thinking too much about the possibilities and you try not to think too much about the time..."

About life in Camp Phoenix... "Oh my gosh, the SC guys still have not left yet and (it is) so annoying, plus they are sleeping in what is supposed to be my bed!!" (I think there was some emphasis on "my bed".)

In one of his recent packages, I filled the remaining space with candy and I told him that he may not like the candy, but it is probably something that they could give to the children... "Oh that is so good. Oh my gosh, the kids are wild and come from everywhere when you drive by. This kid came running from a quarter mile away just to get to the side of the road in time to wave at us."

About the dirt...

Josh: no matter how hard i try my white keys (computer keyboard) are starting to get a little dingy because i am always dirty

Josh: i am excited b/c tonight is shower night
Josh: and new uniform night
Darci: when did you last shower?
Josh: four days ago at least - yuck
Darci: EWWW
Josh: lol
Darci: worse than ft bragg
Josh: i know and this place is way dirtier

Just before Josh signed off, he wrote the following... "I think about you all the time except when I am dodging donkeys and russian taxis."

Today is pretty significant as well -- the 19th!! Another month down, we are up to three!!