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Bare with me for a moment….

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

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

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

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

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

Just another month, maybe?

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

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

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

We'll keep you posted!

The Weather in Afghanistan

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

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

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

And these are the days of our lives...

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

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

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

We'll keep you posted...

It's December!

Woohoo for finally reaching December!!

Question: When is Josh coming home?

Answer: We still don't know.

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

Happy Thanksgiving!

The things we are thankful for...

I received the following in an e-mail from Josh this week...

"I am thankful for you, family, our nieces and nephews, my real job, friends, and the fact that we are citizens of a developed and democratic country."

Happy Engagement Anniversary

Josh proposed to me four years ago today. It was such a wonderful day and one that I never would have guessed for it to end the way it did. For those of you who have come into our lives since our engagement and/or wedding, here is the short version of the proposal story that we included in our Christmas cards that year... that Josh - he is somthing else!!

The Broken Road Mission, tied into their favorite song – Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts - began at his school after driving the two hours to Northern Virginia. Darci thought she and Diane were meeting Josh for dinner, but she was quickly surprised when she was told he left school already. The school staff provided Darci with a box full of items - a map, mission book, the key to his apartment building, camera, video camera, batteries, money and food... all to aid in the Broken Road Mission. Josh taped himself the night before and provided Darci with her mission on video.

On the way to each destination, Diane would read special notes to Darci which were included in the mission book. After leaving his school, Darci, with Diane’s assistance, drove from there to Josh’s apartment to their favorite breakfast spot, then through Old Town Alexandria to Gravelly Point – a place of many special memories. From there, it was on to the final destination – the Washington Harbour in Georgetown, the place where Josh and Darci went with their mutual friend Wendy (the matchmaker) upon meeting each other in March 2004.

As Darci and Diane arrived, Josh was standing on the boardwalk by the Potomac River near the very spot where Josh and Darci were that wonderful night eight months ago. Soon after spotting Josh, Darci approached him, while Diane watched with a camera in hand. Nearly three hours later and the Broken Road Mission complete, Josh proposed to Darci. And of course, she said yes!

Ahhh the memories!!

"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 then there were eleven!

Some happy news from home...

As most of you know, I work at SUNY Cortland as the the Special Events Coordinator for the President's Office, coordinating social events for the President and major "special events" such as Academic Convocation, Honors Convocation and Commencement for the College. For three and 1/2 years, I have been a full-time, 12 month employee. After being home with Josh this summer for a couple of weeks (out of the office for a total of three weeks) and being able to pick-up where I left off without any stress or cause for concern, I realized that this might be something to consider for the future.

After weighing the pros and cons and really thinking about it for a few months, I pitched an idea to Josh over email about changing my professional obligation to the College. We finally had the opportunity to talk about it on the phone in late September or early October. I officially submitted the request to become an 11 month employee of the College. And on Monday, November 3, I received word that it was APPROVED and I finalized everything today - signatures and all!! I will now enjoy one month off every summer (most likely July) with Josh, but still earn the same benefits.

"Every man who possibly can should force himself to a holiday of a full month in a year, whether he feels like taking it or not."

William James

Love the sound of that... holiday!

Happy Birthday AND Veteran's Day!

Happy 33rd Birthday, Josh!!

"It's the best!"... 33 yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting!

How many birthday cards did you get??

In Afghanistan it's been Josh's birthday for 9 and 1/2 hours already! His birthday is 33 and 1/2 hours long this year!

and

In honor of Veterans Day...

Thank You Josh!

Love you!