Another week down in Iraq

Which means one more week closer to home. We now have less than three months until we depart this dusty country. Can-not-wait.

I just wanted to give some shoutouts in this post and give you a heads up on a new mix I'm going to be posting within the next week.

First, thanks to Maria (http://riasrhetoric.blogspot.com/) and her third grade class for all of the wonderful Christmas cards! They are awesome! I've posted them all around the office to help spread Christmas cheer to all of my Soldiers and interpreters who work on the ECP. All of your students have exceptional artistic skill. I wish to thank you and your students for their beautiful cards - especially to the kid who called me "Papa." :)

Second, thanks to the Rices, Adamses, and Donovans for all of the support through Christmas cards and care packages. I often let the Soldiers get into the packages too so we can all appreciate your lovely edibles!

Third, to my wonderful wife - thank YOU for your hard work with raising Amelia while I'm gone. I am eternally grateful for your love and dedication to me, our relationship, and our new daughter. You are one-of-a-kind, love. I miss you.

As for Iraq, the temps are still cool in the mornings and evenings. I was talking with an Airman last night whose MOS is weather forecaster (and he's on a 6-month deployment...where can I get a job like that!?) and he said that normally by this time Basra has received over 3 inches of rain. As of right now, we're under .5 inches. Sooooo dry. But I reckon the rain will come at some point.

I'm seriously considering doing the "Tough Mudder" event that is coming to Colorado June 25th and 26th of '11. I've got some friends who did it in New York who looked like they had a heck of a time. It looks grueling but somehow right up my alley. I've wanted to run a marathon for a while now but am not really built for running. The Tough Mudder in Colorado is about 7 miles long with about a 1,000 foot change in elevation (the elevation of Beaver Creek ranges between 8 and 11.5k feet), which means some lung conditioning once I get home. I think I can do it though. Plus, it will give me incentive to work out (other than not being overweight [according to the Army] - that's for another blog post).

Again, keep your ears open for my next mix. I hope it sounds better to you than my last few. i feel like I'm getting better, but without an audience how can I really know?

Cheers for now - see you all soon :)

Love.