Beginning Our New Year.

I have been staying pretty busy lately, time has kept on flying by, which is a welcome relief to how it was going a month or so ago. I have had a few milestones just pass that made me stop and reflect a little bit. Yesterday was supposed to be my brigades TOA (Transfer of Authority), in essence the "handing of the torch" to the next guys. The shock of these earmarked days has worn off and they don't really get me down anymore. We are just concentrating on doing our jobs and looking to the future for when we finally get to go home.

Today is the anniversary of boarding a plane in Mississippi and leaving the good ole US of A. We didn't actually land in Kuwait until the 20th, so tomorrow will begin the second year of our tour, this one better not be a full year! I am keeping hope alive to be home for my anniversary this year. Which would give Sarah and I a month together before she must go back to school for her senior year.

All of us here have been reminiscing about our training together; Our time at Camp Shelby, the rotation we did in "the box" at Ft. Polk. We had a lot of good times, drank a lot of beer, but it all seems so long ago! We are just amazed at how long we have been working together. My wife has said that she feels she knows all of them, and she has never even met them. I know I've said it before and I will continue to say it, the group I am with here is great, we get the job done but we always have a good time doing it. I know I wouldn't be handling this nearly as well if it weren't for the company I am here with.

Like I said before, time has been flying. This is in large part to a few new things I've been doing. I FINALLY got my Xbox 360 that I have been waiting over 2 months for. The first one got lost in them mail, so they had to send another. Let me tell you, there is no better way to mindlessly pass time than video games! The hours just disappear and before I know it, it's time to go to bed. Sarah also got me a new camera, so I have been figuring out what that can do, and also working on some new photo projects. It is also just in time for my upcoming trip to Qatar at the end of this month. (more to follow on this when I get back).

The other activity that has been occupying my time and energy is PT. I have been working out quite a bit already so this isn't a big change, but now I have company. There were a few individuals who didn't pass their last PT test. They are going to schools after this deployment and they need to pass it in order to attend. So my Sergeant Major and I are doing daily PT with them to get them into shape. PT is just so much more fun when you are running other people into the ground, something about their misery just spurs you on.

To answer a couple of questions from your comments; I am working on getting pictures of critters around here, but it seems that they don't like the cold and I haven't been seeing any lately. Secondly, it is not a chicken in the picture with the Governor. It is a combination of sunlight reflecting on the camera lens, and the magazine pouch on the stalk of his rifle for ammo.

Well, I suppose I have rambled on enough for one post, I hope you are all doing well. I will leave you with a picture of one of the many dangers here in this country, we must be very careful to avoid these.