An interview, some permalinks, and the abuse of newfound power

Ok, so I think I'm participating in an interview tonight for BBC Radio with SGT Trevor Snyder. I think this all came about because someone over at the Mudville Gazette linked to my Christmas blog. Which is actually pretty cool to me because when I first found out I was getting pulled back in the Army to go to Iraq I searched online for milboggers and the Mudville Gazette was my favorite site to visit because it has so many great links. Ok, let me just say, I feel very internet savvy now! SGT Snyder just showed me how to do the permalink thing and, I now I sound silly but, I'm really excited! Anyway, here's the interview with Greyhawk of the Mudville Gazette and Matt of BlackFive from last night. And here's the article announcing tonight's show.

Ok, I know I'm abusing the permalink thing so I'll stop now. I'll let you all know how the interview goes. Have a great night all!

Some pics

SGT Trevor Snyder took these and since my family asked for pics, here they are. One is obvious, I'm just working. In the other one I'm playing hacky-sack with a soccer ball. Alright. That's all I've got. Oh, and good news...well you all probably don't care but this IS my blog! My smallpox shot finally healed! If you don't know about smallpox shots (and I didn't before now) they take about 3 weeks to heal. The doc told us it was supposed to turn into a nasty open sore and he was right. It sucked. I took really good care of it and did everything the doc told us to so hopefully even the scar with fade away almost completley. Now that it healed I'm putting Neosporin on it a bunch. That stuff is like magic! Ok, now I'm done. Sorry, I just felt like sharing.

Nothing says Merry Christmas like the sound of gunfire in the morning!

Seriously, that is what I woke up to on Christmas day. I hear gunfire often but for some reason waking up to it on Christmas Day just didn't sit well with me. I had plans to go watch some people in my unit play football and hang out but after I woke up like that I changed my mind. And don't get me wrong, I didn't think I would get hit or anything. I feel "relatively" safe where I am. It just kinda messed things up for me. So instead I rolled over and went back to sleep. That's where I stayed almost the entire day! I watched "White Christmas" on my laptop, watched a bunch of TV, read almost a whole book, and talked to all kinds of family on the phone. The only time I left my bed was to shower and go to Christmas dinner at the DFAC (dining facility) where I had a pretty good dinner. They had Hawaiian ham (burned, but that's how I like it), yummy turkey, crab legs (I didn't eat them, we had a bunch of people get sick last month from the seafood so I played it safe), candied yams (mashed though, which was weird), cranberry sauce (yay!!), a bunch of other stuff I don't remember, and most importantly...pumpkin and pecan pie!! I have a serious weakness for pie. Heck, at Thanksgiving 6 pieces of pie disappeared between my cousin Caitlin and I. It was pretty bad! I got to Iraq like 5 or 10 pounds heavier than when I left Missouri a month before! Anyway, after dinner I pretty much went back to the hooch and drifted in and out of sleep with the TV on. I'll tell you, that was the laziest day I've had in ages and it was great!! So all in all, a pretty decent Christmas. Hope you all had a great Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanza/Nondenominational Holiday!! Email me with all your "holiday" stories, I'd love to hear them!

Correspondence

Hello all, I love getting comments from everyone but if you would like a reply I need your email address. Alot of you write a name with no way to reply. If you mean to do this then no problem, I just didn't want anyone to think I was ignoring their comments.

Thanks

Merry Christmas from Baghdad

Pics: 1-my sweet new Pez dispenser, I love it. Like my nice job of erasing stuff in the background? I'm trying to keep to the OPSEC thing. 2-two cute kids whose family was attending a Christmas party here today. The little girl was just adorable in her Santa outfit, and she knew it! The little guy was just a doll; he was a little shy at first. Their parents were really nice and let us take some pics with them in exchange for us doing a couple family photos with their camera. 3-a palace in Baghdad we control right now, previous resident-Saddam. I love walking through here and seeing the sweet all-American murals we've painted on the walls. I love knowing all us "infidels" are peeing in his toilets. Juvenile, I know, but I get a kick out of it anyway. 4- the Baghdad sky at night. Pretty, no? 5-home sweet home. The sidewalk out front of our hooches. Good stuff. 6-our pool at night. I feel so lucky to have access to a pool at all, let alone one this pretty.

Pics courtesy of (in order) MAJ Willhoite, me, and all the rest (not in order) SGT Trevor Snyder, SPC David Claffey, and SPC Rick Rzepka. Thanks guys!

Merry Christmas!! I hate to admit this but I didn't realize Christmas was this close! It wasn't until the end of the day yesterday when the good MAJ Willhoite reminded us about our Christmas Eve party. When I heard that it finally hit me that Christmas was upon us! I haven't felt it creeping up on me at all this year. We have a few decorations up around the office, a tree here and there, but that's about it. We did all get a stuffed stocking from the students at the school my 1SG teaches at in the real world. Those were much appreciated. I also got a Christmas box from a very nice lady named Sharrie Kreh. She runs a program for soldiers out of her town of Innsbrook, MO, a place only about an hour away from where I live. I was so happy to get the box that as soon as I got home I opened it up to see what goodies were inside. As I looked through everything I realized that the gifts were meant for a soldier who doesn't have a PX they can shop at, someone who doesn't have a nice trailer with a heater/air conditioner. Lots of soldiers are out in the desert sleeping in tents or on top of their vehicles. Someone like that deserved this box of goodies. So I emailed Sharrie to tell her thanks and ask her if she'd give me the name and address of another soldier so I could pass it along to someone who needed it. Let me just say that Sharrie is running a great program and if anyone would like to donate time, money, or items to the program please email her at momkreh@aol.com we love her over here! Ok, so Christmas and the lack of Christmas spirit. I don't do all the normal traditions people associate with the holidays. I don't bake much, I don't like to cook, I get bored with sports on TV, and I haven't gone door to door singing carols since I was a preteen. I do spend a lot of time with family, go around town to ooh and ahh over Christmas decorations, sing along with Christmas music on the radio, and watch some important Christmas movies. The highest on my list of important Christmas movies is Bing Crosby's "Whit Christmas." Even if I don't feel any Christmas spirit, this movie will always put me there. It's just not Christmas without this movie. Which is why I thank God I brought it with me! I found out we (and by we I meant the E-4 Mafia) get Christmas day off. My holiday plans are as follows: get of work tonight, go to my hooch and drop off my body armor and Kevlar helmet, relax at the Green Bean coffee cafe with my buddy Mikal Calvert, go back to my hooch and stay up late watching "White Christmas" and any other holiday movies I can find on TV. Whoo-hoo!! Since I do have the day off tomorrow I fully expect my phone ring off the hook with friends and family calling to say hi. What I guess I'm trying to say is...everyone who has my phone number, please call me tomorrow?! Ok, no more begging.

More importantly, I want to ask everyone a couple favors. This holiday, please say a prayer for someone who may not be having as good a holiday as you. You turkey didn't turn out just right? Chill, some people won't eat this holiday. You didn't get the gift you wanted? Some people won't get anything the holiday. Just remember someone always has it worse than you; please keep them in mind this Christmas. Oh, and this is really directed at my siblings, please try to get along with your family this year! Just pretend for a day that you're best friends and you may be surprised at how much fun you have. Try not to roll your eyes, sigh with contempt, or yell. Just smile and act nice and you may find yourself smiling for real. Be happy that you have people who can spend the day with you and tell them how much it means to you. I love you all, have a good holiday!

I'm a dork

I accidently wrote that my roommate Michelle is from South America and she's actually from South AFRICA...like said, I'm a dork. Sorry Michelle!! I fixed it now.

Baghdad-home sweet home?

All apologies for taking so long to blog. I’ve been here for almost 2 weeks but I wasn’t allowed to blog until I had my site checked out. Since a handful of very stupid people leaked classified information on their blogs the military is really serious about making sure we know what we can and can’t say. It’s a good thing though because even though I can use my common sense not everyone has that luxury! From what I understand, very recently a soldier talked on his blog about where he was traveling to, what time of day, what kind of vehicle, and bragged about getting to ride with important people and they got ambushed. Thankfully everyone got out ok, even though they had to commandeer a local’s car to get back into the Green Zone! Either way, it should have never happened which is why I’m holding a “DO/DON”T list…so I don’t get anyone killed.

OK, so here’s the update. Last I blogged I was still in Kuwait waiting on jacked up orders. My new orders came in right at the last minute and we barely made the flight to Baghdad. It was quite a change from the big and comfy commercial flight we took from Texas to Kuwait. I finally got my first ride in a military issue C-130! It was so loud but I loved it. You could feel every move the pilot made which I thought made for a very interesting flight. When we landed In Baghdad we were still not where we needed to be so we got to ride in a “Rhino.” I had never heard of a Rhino before now and it was also an interesting ride. A Rhino is an armored bus with extremely tinted windows. That was by far the most nerve racking part of the journey because we traveled through the red zone. Everyone’s heard all the stories about what can happen on a convoy through the red zone so I was really nervous. I was eyeballing everything in the road, on the side of the road, and up ahead. I was seriously imagining and expecting the worst but we got to our new home without a hitch. I stayed in a really nice temporary trailer with a real bed and everything! The next day we all went in to meet our new unit and check out our office.

WOW! We have it really good! We have a nice air conditioned office with working toilets and a sometimes working elevator. Our office is in a convention center that Saddam used often. It was interesting talking to a media member the other day about this building in previous times. She had visited here for press conferences during Saddam’s reign and said it was like waling on thin ice. If you did anything that made anyone mad you got kicked out and she couldn’t believe she was sleeping (we let some transient media people stay here) in the same building. It’s been said that the same conference rooms that we set up and use every week were once used by Saddam to gather people so he could kill them. An Iraqi said we only need to pull up the carpet to see the bloodstains. Rumor or not it’s still crazy!

Well now I’m all set up in my new home. I share a two room, 4 man trailer and a restroom. I’m happy we have our own bathroom instead of having a latrine trailer that the whole place shares! I have a great roommate, Michelle Guy. She seems pretty nice and has a really cool English accent because she’s from South Africa. It works out pretty well because we like a lot of the same music so I can keep my radio on all the time. I hardy ever see my other trailer mates; I think they’re on a different schedule. Anyway, I have a real bed, it’s pretty bad though so I’m ordering a memory foam mattress pad online. I have a fridge and television as well and we even get a few good channels! Mostly I’ve been reading in my off time since I don’t know many people yet. We do have a small and under stocked PX that I’ve hit almost every other night. I think I just want to shop because there’s nothing there I need and I keep leaving empty handed. I think I may redirect my shopping affection to online shopping; it may be my only option! We also have a small food court with a Subway, a burger place, a gyro place and a coffee shop. All the food from there I’ve tried so far was just kind of off. Not quite right, not quite wrong, it’s hard to explain. I’ll just say I don’t eat there much! Our DFAC (dining facility) is actually very good; they served steak, shrimp, and lobster tail two nights ago! I’ve been eating almost every meal there. My mom will be so happy to hear I actually eat breakfast now! I pretty much have to because my 1SG makes me and another Specialist meet him at 6:30 in the morning to do PT. He said we just got lucky enough to be on his schedule so we get to work out with him. Yesterday was rough because we ran but today we did upper body in our very nice gym and I did ok. My body is just taking a bit of a beating wearing body armor every day; it even feels like I have shin splints just from the extra weight! How crazy is that? I was really happy the other day because we got to lock up our bulky M16 rifles and start carrying an M9 pistol. Yayy!!! I have the funniest holster! We were told we couldn’t get a pistol till we had a holster so I bought one from a hajji shop at the Al Rasheed Hotel across the street. The only one that fit was black felt with white stitching…I look like a 3 year old playing cowgirl in a Wal Mart costume! I’m looking online for a new one, preferably one that points down at the ground, not straight back toward people walking behind me.

Wow, I’ve really been rambling huh? I’ll finish up for now but I’ll leave with this last story. A couple nights before we got here Iraq played Syria in a soccer (futbol) game and Iraq won. Apparently this means everyone who owns a gun, which is pretty much everyone, has to fire all their weapon up into the air to celebrate. Well, that isn’t a great idea when you’re in Baghdad in the red zone! The guys manning our office that night heard all the shots and thought we were under attack. They ran around putting on gear and getting ready for a fight! The phones were ringing, everyone else thought they were under attack. Eventually it all calmed down but the next day we found out that a bullet had crashed through our LT’s trailer roof! She had the lights off and heard a crash, when she turned on the light she found a hole in the ceiling and a bullet on the floor by her bed! How scary would that be? Omigosh!!!

Kuwait

Wow, that was the longest day ever! I spent way to much time on a plane but on the plus side...I'm in Kuwait and the countdown has started!! My pay is now tax free and I'm finishing up day 365, 364 left to go baby!! I am really jazzed because at least my tour of duty really has started, I feel like I'm starting to be productive. I may be stuck in Kuwait for a minute because my orders weren't issued correctly. I'll find out more tomorrow. I love you all and I'll keep you updated. Good night all!

Off to the Sandbox!!

OK, so Texas huh? Well it was really beautiful flying over the desert and into El Paso! I really miss the desert, it made my heart swell just getting to see it again. But then everything kinda went downhill. We got to our building and found utter chaos! There are more people going through at a time than are supposed to be. We didn't have enough beds or wall lockers. The buildings are very old, dirty and dusty, and freaking cold!! Every morning we have had formation at like 4 in the morning and every night we don't even get done with training till like 9pm and we still have all kinds of crap to do before we sleep. A couple nights we didn't get to bed till 12:30 then awake at 4am. It sucks. We eat MRE's (meals ready to eat) almost every day, get little sleep, and it's been really cold so I'm getting sick. Oh and on top of that!? We got a whole bunch of shots the other day and they suck!! I got the Anthrax shot which really hurts and the flu mist which is helping make me sick. Worse than all the rest is the smallpox shot. From what I understand, it will blister and pus and leave a nasty little scar. I am not happy about that at all. I'm not really digging the whole 2 week blister thing and scars are definitely not my bag baby! Oh well, it's all in the name of war, HOOAH!
So enough whining, wanna hear the good news??!!! I know where I'm going and I don't think it will be too bad.It actually sounds like I may have it pretty darn good considering. We spoke to our 1SG and really grilled him on what to expect. We are going to Baghdad. This is good and bad. Good because it's a well built up area, bad because I think that's where the trials are going on for Saddam so it might get a little crazy. On the plus side our unit has already been in country for a little while so if I stay for the duration of my unit's 12 months then I should be back in the states for Christmas next year! What a great welcome home, huh? All the family is already getting together so it'll seem like everyone's in town to welcome me home, I'll feel so special! Let's see, what else? I should get a two man trailer with another female, so no tent city, yay!! Well, maybe my first couple days, but after that I'll have a real trailer. Oh, we get satellite television so I get to watch cartoons and you know that makes me so happy! One day a week we should get a casual day and we get to just hang out and wear civilian clothes. Once a month we get a steak and lobster dinner. And the best part??? Drumroll please......I get a cell phone with free incoming calls!!! It's a New York phone number so anyone can call me after their nighttime cell phone minutes start and it's totally free!! They give us the cell phones to stay in touch with each other but he said we could give the # to family and friends. Omigosh, I am so freaking happy about that you have no idea! I am completely addicted to my cell phone and now I don't have to completely cut the umbilical cord! I don't get to surf the internet on the new one and I probably can't send or receive texts but I GET A CELL PHONE!!! Ok, I'm done bragging now. Also, I found out that sometimes I may get to escort the international media and I think that's pretty darn cool. Especially if I end up going to school for broadcast journalism. Maybe I'll make some good contacts?
Well folks, the next time I write anything I'll be in Iraq so wish me luck and keep me in your prayers please. I have been really busy this week and will probably stay really busy for the beginning of my time over there so please don't worry if you don't here from me for a little bit ok? Matter of fact, I just found out...well I can't say what I just found out or I'd have to kill you all (hehehe) so I'll just say just expect to hear from me for a while after tomorrow. Well, after that latest announcement I have to go upstairs and take care of stuff so I bid you all goodnight! I just got out of my last bit of training and it's 9:55pm and I probably should sleep sometime between now and 4am tomorrow huh? Love, hugs, and kisses!! You know which one you get.

My new look?!

So I'm back to brunette again. I loved having blonde hair but a couple different people fresh from the sandbox told me it would be smart to go dark. Some crazy talk about how blonde haired, blue eyed girls have a high risk of getting kidnapped...I dunno. But since I don't really like the idea of being sold into slavery I figured, why not? I picked out a really rich chocolate color and I'm kind of digging it. Also, and this may sound bad, it was nice to spend some money! Those who knew me the past year or so know what a girlie girl I've been and I really miss shopping! Every time I see something I would normally buy I stop and remind myself I'm going to Iraq. If it can go with me to the desert then great, otherwise it'll have to wait till I get home. As you might have guessed I have a huge wish list of things I want to buy when I get back next year! I'm suc a dork!

Whoa. NEXT YEAR. Wow, it's strange to think that. I've never been away from all ties and support for more than 3 months and that was Basic Training in 2000. If you know me well you also realize how much it hurts to realize that also means no cell phone for a year!!! Omigoodness! I text, email, surf the web, and make a million phone calls a day. Sad to say, that may be the hardest thing to give up when I leave the country!! Oh boy. I don't actually want to think about that right now. It brings a pitiful tear to my eye.

Well folks, it's Saturday night, and while I'm not going out partying I do have a fresh bottle of Reisling to drink and packing to finish. I was invited to a club in D.C. but I know if I go I will miss my plane in the morning...I just know it. So I'll just relax and get ready to go.

I've got orders!

Well, I leave this weekend for Fort Bliss, Texas to a mobilization site. They say we should spend a week there and then ship to Iraq. Holy crap. It looks like we'll be attached to a National Guard Public Affairs unit from Georgia. It even kinda looks like the 3 of us will be in the same unit. I'll post more when I know more.