You may have noticed I have been off line for the last few days. Trust me, it was not all my decision. While home on leave my hard-drive failed, and I had to get a new one. Somewhere during the rebuilding process a file or program that I installed caused some type of corruption problems on my system. Now, when I am not over here chasing bad guys in Afghanistan, I work in computers and networking for a living. So, I know what I am doing when working with computers. Anyway, this problem I ran into after getting back into country has been a hassle because of missions and the ultra-slow bandwidth we have here has made file downloading from the internet a major pain. As of now, my computer is about 70% healthy, but I am still having problems. So I am about to get the last bit of my data backed up and then rebuild it again from scratch….if I cannot get these last problems figured out soon. It has been frustrating to say the least.

Missions have not slowed down, regardless of what people told us would happen during the winter time. We are still staying busy and going after bad guys whenever we can. Today was my 2nd mission in 3 days, of which they have all been quiet. We have been going to different villages, talking to people and meeting with elders. Today we gave out a huge box of HA items that were sent to me (part of the 53+ boxes I got after returning from leave). We gave out candy, hats, clothes and stuffed animals. The kids were very excited to say the least, and as CPT Ben said it was like Christmas on Dec 17th (in a country that does not celebrate Christmas ironically). We were amazed to see some kids running on the frozen and cold ground with no shoes. I told Ben, now those are some tough kids and I hope they grow up to join the ANA. They will know what it is like to suffer.

Speaking of cold, it is definitely that here. So cold that the hot water heater on our FOB broke about 4 days ago and still has not been fixed. When the temp is below 20 degrees at night and maybe 35 in the day the water is just a tad to cold to try and shower with it. The winter is just starting, so there is no telling what is in store for us here if this is the way it is starting.

Oh boy, do I miss being at home….

We were not in the USO lounge for long before our ride showed up. There was limited room, so I had to wait on the 2nd lift before I could go. Once I got to the tent that we stay at while going inbound or outbound on leave or pass I ran into Scooter, who used to be in our team. Scooter was on his way out to pass as Maj Mal and I were just coming back from leave. The three of us stood chatting in the doorway when in between walked my roommate, Prophet. He had just returned from emergency leave about 2 ½ hours before we flew in from Kuwait.

It was nice to have so many people there that you know, and we had all day to catch up. After I was done calling my team and letting them know that both Prophet and I were in country and that we would be working a way to get back to our FOB, he and I went to breakfast and then decided to head to the PX to get our shopping done. After the PX we started looking for a ride and we found the place to go. After talking with the soldier there we were locked in on a helo flight the next morning.

Of course because of the time, we had to get up at the crack of black. So we spent the rest of the day still catching up on my time at home, his, and what had been going on at the FOB since I had left. After some much needed naps because of jet lag, chow and other activities we tried to get to bed early but that did not work. Prophet and I had both woke up around 2AM, which was 45 min sooner than we needed to. He and I decided to hit the 24 hour coffee shop and then come back to get up Maj Mal. The rest of the morning went well and soon we were on helicopters heading south. We had been in country less than 24 hours and we were already on our way back to our FOB.

I knew I would have lots of mail, but it was truly overwhelming. See, we had not received mail for 5 weeks before I left, and I was gone about 3 ½ weeks so the mail was piled up much more than normal. I have to still get through all the labels and write people back thanking them and letting them know I got the box, but the total number of boxes (not counting envelopes or postcards) was 53, yes fifty-three. It took Prophet and I about 2 hours to open them all. Most of the stuff was from Booksforsoldies.com, but there was many from schools, family, friends and others. 80% of the stuff is in the TOC and I have to still go down there and put it on all the shelves so my team members can help themselves to it.

So by the end of it all, I had less than 4 ½ hours sleep over the previous 2 nights. That along with the cold, traveling and opening a lot of boxes just wiped me out. It was time to sleep in a familiar bed and get ready to start playing Army again.

Well tough old Chuck Norris is now with us and he went out on his first mission today with two of our guys. It was a good mission and they were able to capture a bad guy’s truck as part of it. We think it was the good luck that Mr. Norris brought to us just by being himself.

I have put up the first few photos of Chuck on a mission with Face and Mouse. We even let him get on the 240B Machine Gun. We think he will be on many more missions in the future and we plan n hanging with him a lot. Be sure to check out the photos when you get a chance.

Well after being bumped off of one flight, and then getting on another one just to have it delayed 4 hours because of weather in A-stan I finally got here this morning. We landed about 4 AM, got our bags, signed back in, and am now sitting in the USO drinking a warm cup of coffee because it is cooooooooolllldddd here.

I spent my extra day sitting around watching movies and playing my PSP. I also took some time on the internet to do email, IM with my mom and check the news. Life is pretty boring when you are the only person in a tent with no heat. I guess they don’t think it is cold enough at night in Kuwait for heaters in the tents, so you better have a sleeping bag with ya. I did run into Maj Mal in Kuwait and figured I would since he was a day behind me going on leave. We chatted a few hours about our leave, how fast it went and what we can expect when we get back.

So today will be a day sleeping since we were up all night and then hitting the PX to pick up some last minute items I may need or that the guys on my FOB want. I hope to be on a flight out of here within the next 1-2 days back to my FOB. Flying is much faster than driving and I figure if I am going to freeze to death I would rather do it with my team anyway.

So leave is over, it is official now. Time to get back to work.

Well my wonderful time at home on leave is over now and I am heading back to Afghanistan. I am currently in Kuwait, having got in last night. I was hoping they could get us out of here today but it sounds like that is not going to be possible. I guess there are no flights available. Some have asked why I would want to get back to a war-zone so quick rather than stay in the relative safety of Kuwait. The answer is simple really; I am a soldier and a leader. Being safe is nice, but that is not what I am giving up a year of my life to do.

I would be lying if I said I had not thought of my team members every day while home on leave. I did think of them and worry about them everyday. I wondered if they did missions without me, of which some I know they did. I worried that they would all be safe and that nothing bad would happen. I wondered about what dumb new rules were coming down the pipe or if anyone was able to fight for better heat and other problems we have there. I really worried about one of them who I consider a very good friend that got screwed out of his leave. It pains me that there are those who had the power to do something but chose not to, and cause him to lose his leave slot which would have had him home at Christmas with his young kids, and that is all he wanted.

I had these thoughts, worries and concerns every day. I had them in the private moments when I was not involved with family. Now that I am going back, they are occupying my time as I get through emails sent to me while at home but that I largely ignored to spend quality time with family. Now that I am getting back into the “game” I want to get back over to my slice of the pie as it will make time go by fast. Sitting in Kuwait or even in Baghram or Kabul will just make time go by slow as I sit there waiting for the ride or flight to get me back to my little room. So this is why I want to get back as soon as possible.

The time at home had its highs and lows. Of course spending time with my family, seeing old friends and being able to talk to those that I did not see was awesome. Taking part in the little things that make up the fabric of my family’s lifestyle was awesome too. Taking Hunter to or picking him up from his pre-school was great. Walking hand in hand with him, giving him piggy back rides and especially laying down with him at night as he went to bed, reading him stories and then falling asleep with him in my arms are always the best moments. Hanging with Jordan, playing PS2 with him, going to movies, listening to him play guitar for me were great times I hope he never forgets, because I won’t. Spending time chillin’ with Jon talking about his Army career, mine, relationships, college, and going to movies were great. He has turned into quite a fabulous young man. My time with Christine never moved slow enough, even if it was doing honey-do chores, emptying the dishwasher, or going out to lunch. There were so many things I wanted to do, but we just never got time.

There were not a whole bunch of lows, except for the last few days. As I told Jordan, every story has an ending and I had to leave. It was tough on my last day as hunter came to me with the Gap label that was stuck to a new sweater Christine had put on him for the trip to the airport. I was busy doing something and he kept trying to stick this sticky size label on me that had the number 5 on it about 4 times indicating the sweater’s size. I told him to stop and then teary-eyed Christine asked me to ask Hunter why he was trying to put it on me. Seeing her say this with tears in her eyes had my curiosity so I kneeled down and asked him why he was trying to put it on me. He looked me in the eye with a little turned downed lip and said “Daddy, I just don’t want you to forget that I am 5 while you are gone”. With that being said I grabbed him and hugged him tight and told him I could never forget he was 5, while trying to choke back tears myself. He could hear me fighting for words and my body grasping for air and he whispered to me while was squeezing him “Dad, that is not funny”. I pulled back so he could see me and told him I was not laughing. When he saw my face his tears started flowing and we just had the first of many cries that day. Even though that was a special moment, it was a definite low of my week at home.

Many people I know and have talked to that have taken the R&R leave all have different perceptions of the leave time. I think this depends largely on what you do while at home. If you spend the whole time drunk, hung-over and partying I am sure it goes by fast and probably not to many memories to look back on. For those that that don’t have a lot of family and loved ones back home I imagine it does not go by fast enough. However an overwhelming majority all have the same experience, the first week goes by slow with actual moments of boredom. The second week flies by with people at the 5-6 days out mark starting to worry about the day they have to leave. It was that exact way for me, and while on the plane back here I heard from at least three others who sad they same exact thing. Being home for Thanksgiving and Hunter’s birthday was very special indeed, and it was the day after Hunter’s birthday I started looking at the dark day of Dec. 7th. I found myself continually looking at my watch and the calendar and re-counting how many days I had left. The last couple days were spent in a blitzkrieg trying to get everything done, of which of course I didn’t get it all done. I called many people, but did not get a chance to call all of those that I wanted to. I regret not being able to find the time, but I hope they understand. So, if you were expecting a call and did not get it I am sorry.

As I sit here I wish I could turn back the clock and still have that time in front of me, but that is not possible. All I can do now is look forward until when my tour is over and keep myself so busy that time flies by.

Well today is the day that I have to go back. My time home with my family has been great, but just as I knew, it went by way too fast. For the first 12-13 days it was pretty much life as normal, but for the last two days things got hectic trying to cram stuff in and the mood of all of us changed. The boys all got clingy on me and I tried to get in last one on one moments with them all. We knew today was coming and none of us want it too.

As you have seen, I did not post a lot while I was home to nobody’s surprise. However I will start cranking things up soon. In a few hours I have to start that long slow walk through the airport with my family. This will start the journey that will eventually get me back to my FOB.

A few posts back I mentioned about the weblog awards. Since this is my first year really blogging, I was confused on how they work. What I mentioned before was the nominations, of which this blog was one of the 10 finalist out of all the nominations to make it to the actual voting. The voting starts today, December 7th, and runs for 10 days I think. I have put a logo on this blog that you can click on to vote. They are supposed to open the polls soon, and when they do my plan was to change that link so you could click on it and go to the exact spot to vote for this blog. This would make it easy for everyone to vote. However, because I am starting my travels back today I don’t think I will have the internet access to do that. As soon as I do, I will change it. Until then please click on the logo and go to 2006.weblogawards.org/ to vote. Hopefully they will have the instructions up there soon.

I do know you will need a java and macromedia plug-in installed into your web browser for the voting to work. No worries, you will be prompted to install them if they are not already.