Hello all!
My sincere apologies for a prolonged absence, as exciting as it may sound being in a warzone, it has been relatively subdued for the last few months................knock on wood! We had quite a few trailer fires just before I left, due to the combination of cold cold weather and the typical substandard electrical work. Overall for the wet-season we have been lucky, there has been minimal rain to date and the future is looking pretty dry too! When there is any substantial rain here, this hell-hole turns into one godforsaken messy, mucky, muddy hellhole! It is unbelieveable how disgusting it gets here. I have never seen anything like it before!
As you may imagine, R&R is an oasis in a sea of crap, an especially big steaming pile of crap in the summer! Excuse the visual there but for all the fun we have joking with each other, going about our daily duties and killing time watching movies or working out everyone is thinking about going home. Home, Europe, Hawaii, an insurance conference or whatever! What they want is to get the fuck-outta-dodge and back into the real world to a feeling of normalcy.....and beer we all crave. You will never know how much you miss your day-to-day life til you get here!
I tried not to anticipate coming home too much, I thought it would slow the whole process down and the "watched pot never boils" effect may take place. A lot of people here dwell on how much longer they have til R&R and EOC (end of contract), they count by the day, hour, minute, meal and bowel movement! (Those that are very regular!) Some have little clocks counting down on their computers like little doomsday clocks, it just seems to me all the anticipation ruins the lead-up to your well deserved vacation. So I stay busy, surf the net, watch a lot of TV/Movies in my down time and even started working out more to pass time. Almost as if I was trying to expect to be surprised when the time actually arrived to go home...."
What seemed like it may never arrive, finally did. I was finally going home for a visit, I couldn't wait!!! The problem with going home is that it takes around 40 hours of travel to get there. Although I had not been a very well-traveled person in my life up til now, I am pretty sure that this trip brings jet-lag to a whole new level! Then you also have layovers, mine were not so bad, about 7 hrs in Dubai and 7 hrs in Heathrow. Not quite long enough to do anything of substance, yet not enough time to justify a hotel room to sleep either. Plenty of time to putz around the airport. I'm not even going to get into the 12 hrs it took just to get out of Baghdad, OY! Travel has never been overly appealing to me and this isn't helping any. Anyway, the trip ended up being uneventful, I truely enjoy British Airways and their people, very nice, on-time and just an overall positive experience...........Now if they could just invent Transporters like in Star Trek we'd be all set! By the time I reached BWI, I was past the travel issues, Ben was there to pick me up and we were on our way.
Of course we headed back to the house, I was excited to see how the pups were going to react to me. Would they remember me? After all, when an electrician comes to do work at the house they bark at him for 15 minutes like he has never been here before everytime he goes out to his truck to get a tool! I was a little worried, but it ended up being OK, they went crazy for the obligatory 15 minutes as if I had always been around. That made me feel good knowing home was still trucking along, Ben is there taking up their time, giving the necessary love and treats to keep things as normal as possible for them. And now they have Kate too, our new roommate! Carlene suggested a girl coming to our area to work, as a roommate to Ben. She is as sweet as can be and can tolerate 7 dogs as well. Besides, she and Ben enjoy a lot of the same shows too! She's a welcome addition to the house and it made me feel very good that she is around.
After getting in, Ben and I decided to go to Meiwah, our friend Larrys place to eat. Larry wanted to sit and talk about my trip so far. He has kept in touch by email and follows the blog too. Since I will never turn Larrys' sushi down we headed over, had a great meal as usual and got to sit and tell Larry a few stories from Sandland.
Our next trip was up to see the Family at Nana, at 93 she is still kickin it, albeit a little slower that usual. Unfortunatly due to the dogs we were only able to drive up for dinner. Mom, Dad, Julie, Joey, John, Christine and kids were all in attendance. Along with a wonderful surprise to have Aunt Laura, Aunt Mary and Uncle Bruce along as well. Unfortunatly on the way into the restaurant, Nana took a fall, while walking up a slight incline, and had a bruise/scrape on her forehead that gave us a scare. She seemed fine, had all her wits about her and actually may have been a little annoyed that we kept asking her if she was all right. After dinner it was decided that Mom and Dad would take her to the hospital to get checked out, she was fine, although she did have a slight break in her nose. Mom said she was sporting the racoon eyes the next day but she was doing fine. It was a short trip, but it was nice to see everyone. Years ago, when life wasn't so complicated, our family was pretty close. We had a lot more holidays together and it was always a lot of fun. I love my family to death, all of them, but I do miss those days.
The rest of the week was filled with hanging out at home with Ben and the dogs, I helped him with work a little, got to see some of the flooring people and I caught a few movies which you can read about in the "Movie Review" post. So Friday rolls around, Ben asks if I want to go to Meiwah, he set up a dinner for a bunch of his clients and needs to be there and schmooze a little. Again, never one to turn down Larrys sushi, I got ready to go. We arrived, it was a Friday night, and the place was absolutly swamped, Bens group was in a room at the back and Larry was gonna put us in with them. I figured, whatever, I know a lot of these people anyway. As we are walking in the room, about 40 or so people I thought, damn, big party! I half-focused on a girl facing the door I came in and thought, "Damn, she looks just like Kate!". A few faces later I finally realized it was Kate and thatI had been bamboozled! It was a party for me since I was home, I couldn't believe it. Behnkes folks, The Benfield crew, Ellis, Paul, Robin, Bens Sister Benita and her son Josh, Kate, Dana, John and more! I was amazed, it was a great surprised and the night went on with a lot of mingling, great food, Beer and fun. I was completely surprised, so much so I didn't bring a camera. I really need to track down some of those pictures. That was definitly the highlight of my trip home, it was great to see everyone and even more greatly appreciated to have you all there! A big thank you to all and especially, to Larry and his incredible staff(they are the absolute best) and to Ben for being the Mastermind behind it. You got me good! Here is a link to the Meiwah website, you need to eat here if you are in the area!!
http://www.meiwahrestaurant.com/
I'd like to mention some of my other favorite people I got to see while I was home, The staff at Briggs Chaney Animal Hospital. Ever since the day we walked into Briggs Chaney with a newly adopted Jeremy, we couldn't have been more impressed. They are the sweetest, most caring people you could ever have look after your furry family members. Dr. Robbins, Dr. Boone (both), Betsy, Tonie and everyone are the greatest, you can imagine with 7 dogs we see them a lot so it helps to have them be so wonderful to work with. Here is their link:
http://www.briggschaneyanimal.com/index2.htm
Of course a big thanks to the Behnkes crew for coming out as well, I want to thank them all, I really love working with you guys and I cannot wait to get back! Beth, Minto, Bev, Martha, Mia, Tim & Emily, Miri, Randy, John, Alden, Andrew, Jean and everyone else, I can't even list them all! S here is a link to their website, again, you have to visit, these are the best people and of course the best plants!
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The rest of the visit wound down with mostly staying home with Ben and the Dogs. Bens sister Benita and her son Josh stayed a few extra days too. Relaxed a lot and waited for the return trip to Baghdad. I told the people here I work with I was actually missing the firehouse. I guess living and working 24/7 with mostly the same people can grow on you. I likened it to "Stockholm Syndrome", LOL! I did miss this place a little, it grows on you, the people grow on you and it definitly has it's moments.
You run the gamut of emotions here, you see fragments of everything there is to experience in a warzone and you realize there are men and women out there that live daily in your brief moment of despair, terror, pain or anger. Whatever feeling it may be. Maybe thats why I felt a connection to this place, because I know that there are people here I can help, in whatever way, big or small. Maybe it's just as simple as a, "Good morning" and a smile at the chow hall or as serious as performing CPR to try to resusitate them back to life. I'm here for them. There are remakable people here working tword a common cause and I am proud to be part of their support structure. I'm proud to be here.
