Another (calendar) month down...

I justified what type of month I was talking about when I named this post, since I seem to be operating on two different types - the calendar months and then the months that are formed using the 19th as a beginning and ending point, which I just wrote about two weeks ago. I guess in a way for us, we have managed to hold onto anything and everything that can help us get through this. For us right now, it is any measurement of time - small or large.

I remember talking to Josh back in February after a particularly rough day - one that was hard for both of us. We reminded each other that this was just one bad day, but that tomorrow was a new day. Whenever I think back to that moment, I always think of Dicky Fox, the mentor in Jerry Maguire, saying... "I love getting up in the morning. I clap my hands and say 'this is gonna be a great day'!" Some days that is what it takes to get up.

When I saw Josh last weekend, I gave him a stack of cards to read - one for each day to get him through to May 1, when hopefully he will start receiving mail. One of the cards that I gave him referenced the sun rising and wishing a you a great day wherever you are. As I prepared to write in that card, I was reminded of the quote that I posted below his picture on the left. "May every sunrise hold more promise and every moonrise hold more peace." I realized that with the 9 and 1/2 hour difference in time, our days are fairly close to being the opposite. I wrote in the card that when the sun is rising for me that I know the day is coming to and end for him and that hopefully he would have a peaceful rest. Likewise that when the sun was rising for him, I would be sleeping and looking forward to the promise of a new day, one day closer to being with each other, and the promise for what will come.

We still see the same sun and moon, just at different times.

Wishing us all more peace in the coming months...

A Visit to Ft. Bragg, NC

Josh was released on Friday, March 21 for the Pass Weekend. We had a wonderful visit. Of course, there as a lot of catching up to do and sharing stories that we never had a chance to share on the phone, in a letter or via a text message. He told me that he would never complain again about clothes being on the floor or the house being messy and I told him I would never complain about how much cleaning solution he used when he cleaned the bathrooms, as long as he took that job back when he returned. There were a lot of those little "discoveries" that we shared with each other, which made for a lot of laughter. It is amazing to think that it took something like this to make us realize what was important.


We stayed at the Sleep Inn in Spring Lake, just outside of Ft. Bragg. Obviously, this was no Hilton or Hyatt, yet he talked non-stop about how great the room was and how clean it was. It was nice and it was clean, but you really would have thought that we were in a 5 star resort the way he talked. Amazing how much living with sand and 16 others in a tent changes your view of what is really nice. He was VERY excited to take a shower with high pressure, hot water and privacy. Unfortunately, he had to wait until I arrived with his clothes to enjoy this "luxury". Here is a picture of him clean and in his first set of civilian clothes since January 19.



As you can tell from the above picture, same old Josh... no bigger, no smaller, still a big smile! He was very happy and enjoying the time away from army life for the weekend.

Josh's wish came true! We went to the Olive Garden on Easter Sunday for lunch. He has a pretty big smile in the his picture and we hadn't even gotten the breadsticks yet!! As you can tell from the picture, the weather was very nice while we were down there. It was 75 on Saturday, and a little cooler on Sunday, but it was SUNNY!!! When I left on Wednesday, the forecast was calling for temps in the low 80s for this weekend.

How could I not include a picture of this?! We went to Walmart on Friday night and Josh bought 2 cases of Coke. I do have to share that he was a bit disappointed that he had lost his "tolerance" for the beverage. The caffeine really threw him off and he even ordered water for dinner one night!

We went on post (base) on Monday afternoon. We visited the PX, which is like a Walmart, but with name brand/designer items at a really low (20 - 30% + off), tax free price. I found some "good buys" while I was there. Josh also stocked up on a few things that he needed or wanted to replace before heading overseas. We drove around for a bit and were provided with a handy map that showed the location of all the PX/Mini-Mall/shop locations provided through AAFES (Army Air Force Exchange Services). I was highly entertained to see Josh follow the map - just as he has been trained with changing the orientation of the map to follow the direction we were heading on a particular street. Smart little soldier!!

I drove Josh back on Tuesday evening. The trip to the FOB from the hotel was about 35 minutes long. We entered on the northern side of Ft. Bragg and drove straight through the whole post/base and actually left one of the Entry Command Points. When he said he was "in the middle of nowhere Ft. Bragg", he was not lying. The last two roads that I traveled on were dirt (and very dusty) roads. They even had a sand-covered road that ran parallel to it for the tanks to travel on. I'll put it this way, his FOB is no where near any of the points on the map that I mentioned above. Miles and miles away from any of the places/services, with the closest being a car wash!

It was daylight when I took him there, but dark by time I left. It is huge. It was easily a 1/2 mile in length.

Here is the FOB Sign. In case you can't read it clearly it says Forward Operating Base/ Patriot/ 189th Infantry Brigade/ Ft. Bragg, North Carolina/ "Train Like You're Gonna Fight"

Here is the signage in both the Afghani and English languages. These were all over the place - in particular, this sign! I thought these were really neat to see. Makes it seem a little more like where they are going to be, which is obviously the whole point, but it did make you do a double take when you saw it the first time.

Again, Josh returned on Tuesday night. He had his new laptop and a case of coke with him as he entered through the gates. A bus was returning a group of soldiers just as he entered the gate, so it made for a lot of dust floating through the air. He walked up and over the hill. The way the lights were shining and the dust was moving through the air, it honestly looked like he was walking through a sand storm in the desert, no different than what you may have seen on television or in the news of soldiers actually overseas. It was quite a moving sight to see and I only wish that I had my camera with me, as I stood on the other side of the chain-link/barb-wire fence. He looked very confident and ready to go.

Pictures from Josh

Here are some pictures from Josh's Camera of the FOB (forward operating base).


This is Tent City. All of these tents house the platoons on the FOB.


Inside the tent...



A couple of Josh's buddies...



Training...

Month 2 - Check!

Today marks another month milestone... two down! This one comes with a little extra excitement, as Josh and I will be reunited in a few days before he leaves for Afghanistan. I am packed and have been so since Sunday. It makes it pretty easy when you are traveling from 30 degree temperatures to 60s and 70s. Though packing still proved to be a challenge, when I realized that I needed to pack all of Josh's clothing as well. Good thing we have a big suitcase, though it is forcing me to pack on the "lighter side", which means that I still probably overpacked. Josh is looking forward to getting in some good meals at his favorite restaurants while he is on pass. The Olive Garden has only been mentioned in every conversation for the past month! Hint, hint! Wink, Wink!!

I will be sure to post an entry, pictures and maybe even a video of Josh from the Pass Weekend once I return to NY.

Training Complete

I know that I haven't posted here in quite awhile, so I will try to cover everything. First things first...


I heard from Josh on Saturday - the training is OVER! They were busy cleaning weapons, washing and waxing the humvees, and "taking care of business"! They were in some intense training since March 1, so it had been a long two weeks. They were at another forward operating base (FOB) for several days this week. It almost sounded like he was glad to be back to their tent and in his bed, even though it is just a cot with a sleeping bag.

The real deal with the cookie arrival... The boxes came a little damaged and wet, so when they arrived to the "mail room", they could see what was in them. They radioed Josh's platoon and told him that they needed to come and pick them up and suggested bringing a vehicle. Josh and another soldier drove the humvee down, picked them up and brought them back to the tent, but before they could do anything they had to return the Humvee. When they returned, everyone in the platoon was sitting on their bed staring at the cookies, with cookies in their eyes! Josh said, "go ahead!" and they went nuts. By the sounds of it, Josh's platoon really capitalized on the arrival of them, but there was still more than enough to share with the other platoons. He said that they started opening the cases of cookies and dumping the contents to use those boxes to "fill-up". It was a huge hit with everyone and they arrived during the first part of the intense training, so it was well received. As expected, Josh went for the Thin Mints!


The flag... simply put, I found it buried in the snow last weekend. Hopefully, the third time is a charm! Looks a bit odd right now that we have a spot light on the house, but I am sure the neighborhood is used to it by now.


Pass Weekend... I have not really mentioned much of this, since as the saying goes, "It's the Army!," we were not sure what to expect. Josh will get a pass this coming weekend (Easter Weekend) for 4 days. I am flying down to Ft. Bragg and his family is driving down from Virginia to see him. We are all excited for the mini-reunion before he leaves for Afghanistan.


Departure... They are not releasing much information about the departure. Most likely, I will be posting after the fact with details of how they got there and when. I will send out a mass e-mail to everyone when I find out that they are there, but will also post additional details, if I know any, here on the blog.


This time obviously comes with a lot of mixed emotion. Excitement knowing that the training is over, but the very opposite knowing what happens next. Please continue to keep Josh and his unit in your thoughts and prayers. Godspeed!

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.

"Roger that Sergeant!"

When Josh has a quick second to call, it usually happens that he is around the others and they are asking him questions, so I tend to overhear a lot of the "army talk", which can be quite entertaining. There have been several things that Josh has said recently, army talk or otherwise, and I thought I would share a few of them.

Hey Pig-pen! ... Josh's self-proclaimed nickname. The showers are few and far between and he said that even if he takes a shower, he just gets dirty again.

Life in the Truck...

Josh's role in the truck requires him to sit in the turret. He has since discovered that any vehicle he owns after this - MUST - have a sunroof.

He said it is a great hiding spot when they are looking for volunteers because no one can see him.

With the new trucks that they have, there is a internal headset/speaking system. Josh and the two others in his truck have decided that they would make a great radio show when they return home!

Terms...

"Wait 1" - Hold on! (Is this really any different or more efficient!? Ha!)

"Tent TV" - when you are entertained by the happenings of what is going on inside the tent... This is Today on Tent TV!!!

Coke Stories...

Darci: How have you been doing with or without Coke?

Josh: Well, I broke down at the trailer PX and bought some.

Darci: Oh that is good.

Josh: Yeah, I bought a whole case!

One day they were held up before dinner, after waiting around for a bit of time and for something ridiculous, his sgt. finally spoke up and said, "Listen, I need to get to dinner. If they are serving soda tonight and Baci doesn't get his Coke, he might kill me in my sleep!" Seems like they have all caught on to Josh's favorite beverage!

Cookie Update... They were supposed to arrive today. Check back soon for another update on the big arrival!

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!  

An Upbeat Soldier

Josh called last night and was quite chatty and upbeat, which is always wonderful to hear. They got a new Humvee to train with and he was telling me about all of the things that he benefits from. For his turret, he gets a joystick to maneuver his positioning, which is a lot easier than the manual rotations that he had to do before. He also has a larger seat to sit on - kind of like a seat for a swing, so you can imagine how big the old one was. Each of the doors weigh 680 pounds and the whole truck weighs 10,000. He talked non-stop about this for awhile. He has mastered the art of the drop down for getting back into the truck as well. They only have this truck for a couple of weeks while they train, but will have trucks like this when they get to Afghanistan.

Of course, Josh's comical side is really starting to show through. One of the sgt.s told him the other day that he never knew he was such a comedian. He seems to be making everyone laugh, which is good for all, including Josh. And he always seems to say something that "floors" everyone else.

All of his packages and treats/ goodies that people send are allowing him to maintain his weight. He has been sharing everything and commented on the items that other people like that he does always get to enjoy. He has learned to love some of the things that he used to like, just because he knows that he is the only one who eats them (i.e. more for him!).

The weather has been really warm down there for the most part. They had some bad weather from last week's ice/snow storm that went up the coast, but that it didn't stop the training.

He spends his "spare" time watching his new favorite show -- Lost. He discovered it around Christmas and had downloaded Season 1 and most of Season 2 to his iPod. I sent him the full Season 2 and Season 3 for Valentine's Day. At the beginning of this month, the show began it's fourth season. I know that Josh wishes he could watch it. He is certainly hooked on the show.

One of the other guys in the platoon purchased a television receiver of sorts for his computer. He is able to pick up some of the local channels, including FOX. Any guesses on what they were actually watching one night? ... American Idol!

He is looking forward to March 1, with another month complete.

The Months Go Marching One by One... Hurrah! Hurrah!

Josh left a month ago today. At times it is hard to believe that it has already been a month, and then there are times, especially in the last week, when it feels like the year should be over with. Josh has been extremely busy for the past few weeks. We had a chance to catch up this weekend and there was so much that we wanted to share with each other that we were practically talking over one another. The excitement in each of our voices was very refreshing.

Josh continues to appreciate all of his "fan mail". Thursday should be a good mail day for him. With the holiday weekend, I have a small stack to mail to him this morning.

They were treated to steak dinner and COKE! on Saturday night and he said "it actually wasn't bad." And yes, he did take a few extra cans of soda with him! They eat MREs (Meals Ready to Eat) each day for lunch, unless they are at main post and have a chance to eat at the PX. He usually looks forward to dinner, as the MREs get boring really quickly. Here is a great link that I found about the 'ins and outs' of MREs. Depending on where they are in Afghanistan or what mission they are on, these meals could become a three-a-day affair! Thankfully, he has a nice supply of treats back in his tent with which he continues to role model appropriate kindergarten behavior and shares with his platoon!