Good Luck Major Brown

Our good friend, Rich Brown, began his deployment this past weekend. He is a Major for an Army Reserve unit out of Utica. Here is a link to coverage from the Utica Observer-Dispatch, including a video. Rich's wife, Lisa, and son, TJ, are also in the video. Lisa is wearing red and holding TJ - both full of smiles.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/x1485139579/Reservists-deploy-to-Iraq-This-is-what-we-ve-trained-for

We wish Rich and his unit well. They are in training and will be heading to Iraq in the Fall.

Lisa and I will be lacing up the sneakers for some running and scrapbooking to pass the time.

A few more pictures from home . . .

I love this photo... Jonathan (3 years) absolutely loves his Uncle Josh and I think he would have sat on his lap for weeks as long as he knew that he was home. As you can see he was very content in this picture. Jonathan knows that Uncle Josh is at work, but now he thinks that I am working all the time too. We look forward to having Jonathan and Dominic spend the night once Uncle Josh is back.





The weekend after Josh left, I ventured off to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Syracuse for their annual Penguin Palooza night with Dominic, Jonathan and Cassie. Some of you know how excited I am around animals... I guess you could say this trip was for the birds!!

Returning to the Afghan Life

Josh is getting back into the swing of things in Afghanistan, though things seem different now. When he returned two of the other men in his truck had just left for their leave, and therefore things were not "normal". ("What is normal?") Josh's truck was not in the same condition as he left it. After taking the time to make sure everything was "just so" day after day, returning to anything but that was a bit frustrating for him. He called me on Saturday and he had it back at the maintenance hut getting it "tweaked". The other two men had also returned from their leave. We have learned that moods, motivation, and morale change drastically after leave, and in a variety of ways for each person. Some return more depressed than others, while some come back and have a new outlook and perspective on what really matters, using the proximity to returning home as motivation to just finish their job.

Oddly, as close as they are to China, the opening ceremonies were not aired until August 9 for them. He was hoping that some of the duties would coincide with an opportunity to watch some of the Olympic games.

In an e-mail late last week, he wrote, "It has been cloudy or smoggy, not sure which one for the last two days, but it helps to kill some of the sun's intensity, but it is still wickedly hot." Wickedly!

Josh and I purchased some items while he was home that finally arrived for him last week. It's amazing to think that those 9" plastic fans we buy for college that barely blows enough air are now such a relief in the place where he is. He loves his little fan. The person who will move into his room when he leaves will be in for a treat. There is no way that Josh can bring everything home, not that he wants to at all. He decided that he will leave his things - fan, the rug, chair, etc. for the next group to use. Anything to make things a little easier on them.

In news from home, I ran in the Tromptown 1/2 Marathon last Thursday evening. A nice 13.1 mile run through country scene (and smells) of DeRuyter, NY. It kicked off the Fireman's Field Days. My cousin Deanna drove me and cheered for me along the way. I crossed the finish line with Deanna, my parents, Donna, Dominic and Jonathan watching. They didn't recognize me at first. I think it was because of my lightening speed. KIDDING! I finished in 2 hours and 6 minutes, well ahead of what I thought I would do it in and before it was dark, so I was very happy. I am training with flat runs and this was full of rolling hills, so needless-to-say I was very pleased. Josh sent a very nice e-mail to me before the race too which was a great extra push, letting me know that he would be right there running with me. As soon as I returned home, I e-mailed him with the news, and added, "It wasn't the same without you, but I talked to you a few times out there. And I imagined you running by my side... Not too many smells of cow poop either."

Pictures!

Here are the pictures... Enjoy!

Arriving Home!

You have to love the Ithaca Tompkins Regional Airport -- so simple. This is the gate that Josh came through. At the point of this picture, Josh's flight had just touched down.

Check back in a week or so, once I have the camera cord for a video of his arrival.


Visiting Marathon


It took Josh a bit to get out of the vehicle.



Uncle Josh and Francesca
The boys didn't know what to do -- Jonathan is on the floor!



I had to include this one... just tilt your head!


This is my Dad coming home for work... Mom came up the stairs and Josh followed.

Needless to say... it was a surprise!



My Dad and his protector of the plug-pullers are reunited!

Dustin arrived and continued chatting up a storm until he realized who was sitting in front of him! If I quoted what he said, we would need to include a "beep" or two!

Uncle Josh and Dominic being silly!

Arriving in Virginia

Josh and Mom

Meeting and holding Takoda for the first time


Jim, Jen, Mom and Jesse




Takoda and His Playmat (from us!)






The Newseum

This is part of the Berlin Wall. Each of the panels weighs 3000 pounds!


The view from the Newseum...

A news helicopter... looks small, but it is real!

Getting Takoda Ready for Bed (with Aunt Jen's supervision)

A visit from Wendy!

The Baltimore Aquarium

This a very old sea turtle and it is a lot bigger than what this picture actually portrays.

This is actually a fish, but looks like a rock!

NEMO!

There are a few more photos and video that I will share in a week or so. And no, sadly, out of 294 photos, there was not one of Josh and I together.

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!

Back in Afghanistan

Josh completed his return trip to Afghanistan. He departed the US on Tuesday, July 22 in the evening from Atlanta and arrived in Afghanistan late Thursday evening. He was then transferred back to Camp Phoenix on Saturday afternoon and back to work on Sunday. He was greeted with several packages and other pieces of mail when he arrived. Things are slowly getting back on track for him. Everyone's leave is staggered, so his truck will be "normal" again for a short time before the fourth member of the truck leaves.

Including travel time, Josh was "out of commission" for 27 days. It took him seven days to get from Camp Phoenix to Cortland and 5 on the return trip.

He has called a couple of times since he left. Mostly, I heard from him at each new location along his travel path. He did send an e-mail this morning, indicating that he felt popular as everyone was excited to see him and kept telling him how good it was to have him back. He was able to sleep through the night the last two nights, so he feels that he is back on the regular schedule. It continues to be very hot there. When he was in Kuwait on his way home, it was 120 degrees!

I promise to post the pictures soon from the visit. This posting is being added from the comfort of my bedroom and the pictures require the other computer... that is downstairs... in the room... that is a mess! Soon...

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!

Happy 4th of July!!

THANK YOU TO OUR SERVICE MEN AND WOMEN!!!

THANK YOU JOSH!!!!!!!!

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave. ~Elmer Davis

An Early Wake-up Call

It's my first day of the long weekend - aka vacation. For the last month or so, I have literally needed to peel myself out of bed at 7 or somtimes 7:30, eventhough the alarm goes off at 5:30. Today, a phone call woke me up at 5:25 - it was Josh (2 pm his time). (He had actually called yesterday at 6 am, but I never even heard the phone!)

He sounded wonderful. Seemed to be well rested and doing well. I gave him the scoop on the local neighborhood children and upcoming kindergartners - reporting who had what teacher for school next year. Our nephew, Dominic, was screened for kindergarten the other day and did very well, making Uncle Josh very proud of him.

He said it is VERY HOT over there and that our 90 degree heat would actually seem cool to him. It helps that over here he could wear shorts and tshirt and would lack the 60 or so pounds of body armor.

He is excited that is July. As you all know, a lot has happened the past few months and he said that knowing it is a new month just helps. He says hello to everyone and continues to thank everyone for their support and encouraging words.

A special thank you to some of my co-workers and their families. My friend Hailey had a covert candy drive with some other people from work and her family. She shipped him four ten pound packages full of candy to share with the Afghani children. A continued thanks to St. Michael's School in Annandale, VA as they raised money to purchase phone cards for Josh's group - which continues to keep Josh connected to us via phone, as well as many other soldiers and their families.