Getting Back to Normal Routine

Jogging in the morning (all I have are my walking shoes, time to go back to the Factory Outlet store). I need new running shoes pronto.

Starbucks at the Vons (even after six months they remembered my drink "Grande One Pump Mocha, Half Soy/Half Nonfat, No Whip").

Breakfast at The Boulevard (our favorite sports bar/restaurant) with a nice 6 out of 6 on the keno machine yesterday (money for gaming)!!

Catching up on TV shows stored on the DVR. Have you seen "The Colony" on Discovery? Great premise! Watching Eureka, Warehouse 13, Entourage, Great American Road Trip and Big Brother 11 (first season when I am NOT subscribed to the live feeds and I'm NOT soaking up all the latest live feed happenings - trying to avoid all spoilers and seeing it through the CBS editing only).

Planning our "Staycation". Hope the summer thunderstorms clear up for some pool time. Gotta work on my tan. I think there is European bathing at the Palazzo and Green Valley Ranch.

I wonder if I can fool some people in to thinking I was doing a season of "Survivor" instead of six months in Iraq?

I know, I know, I need to post pictures from Qatar. Hopefully get that updated today.

Home at Last!

The long journey has come to an end. Obviously I'm a little busy right now.
1 load of laundry and 1 suitcase cleared.
2 boxes of mail & 4 boxes of shipped items to open (2 more on their way).
Still catching up on sleep.
Reporting up to the base tomorrow morning - I'm sure there is lots of paperwork and other stuff to do.
And pictures to load on here.

Thank you to everyone who has been reading this blog (loved hearing from you!!!).
It will continue to be updated with photos & musings until I have officially finished my active duty middle of next month.

Edit to add a couple of pictures:





This guy was hiding under the couch and came out to greet me. AAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKKK!!







Gift from my husband, a much nicer surprise than the spider.

Airport Update

Checked in, luggage out of my hands, mall food in my belly (manchuwok).

Gentleman at the US Airways counter an hour ago was very nice, apologetic there were no earlier flights and no First Class, but he did print me out a receipt and put me in the exit row on the long leg of the flight (aisle, my favorite).

Pictures from Qatar and the start of our flight to the states have been posted on Flickr.

ARGFest - from BWI

I'm sitting in the food court where I get the best signal so I can watch the ustream of the live panels and had some mall chinese food.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/remix-fiction

Wish I was there in person, but at least I can chat with folks and ask questions of the panelists until my flight is called.

Arrived in US Soil

Sitting in the airport at BWI (Baltimore) right now!

US Airways ticket home doesn't leave until 2p with a plane change in Philly. The person at the ticket counter said there was nothing earlier except standby - and I didn't want to get stuck sitting around another airport waiting for another flight since there is NOTHING that is non-stop from here on their planes.

I really try to be polite and smile when at the ticket counter, but this gal must have been having a bad morning. She had nothing to offer me, said if I wanted an upgrade to First Class I would have to use the Gov't charge card (same used to purchase the ticket) and then said there was only FC available on the 40 min hop to Philly (not the 5 hr flight from Philly to Las Vegas). It's all just a moot point since it is illegal to use the Gov't charge card for such a purchase (and I don't understand this policy since military folks have always been able to upgrade using their personal cards, or cash). Maybe she won't be at the counter when I check in for my flight and I can try again. Or at the gate in Philly.

The USO here in BWI just started their renovation last night. They moved it upstairs into a conference center. No free wifi available in that area. I'm sitting out on the concourse in a hallway so I can charge my laptop, I don't mind paying the daily Boingo fee but I wish the connection was a little stronger than 2-3 bars and would stop dropping me.

The 4-Point Sheraton offered us free showers. After getting all sweaty yesterday loading bags (in exchange for first dibs on seats allowing me to have three together on the window and actually lay down for a nap during the 14 hr flight) I feel tons better. Thank you Sheraton!

Getting ready to wake up family on the West coast. At least my cell phone is fully charged. It was so great talking to my hubby. Going to wake mom & dad then head to the ticket counter and spend the rest of the waiting time at the gate.

Pictures from Al Udeid and reports of my Deidcation will be placed in here later today (in between watching Dexter Season 1 and playing Hoyle's Poker Tournament) once the laptop is fully charged and I can maintain my connection. Just finished watching Lost on the flight home (thank you Celina for the last 8 episodes). What a great season! Amazing cliffhanger. Can't wait to hear the producer podcasts.

Wow, lots of military walking around these hallways. In blues! Not used to seeing the USAF blue uniform - I think it was only recently the commands re-instated travel wearing blues.

Speaking of blues, check out this snappy guy:


Senior NCO Induction Ceremony after the 3-day leadership seminar. I'm so proud of my husband!

Edit: Here are some Al Udeid Pictures (as promised).

The infamous coffee shop - wifi and power in the mornings - just watch out for the sunrise glare through the windows. The barristas are very friendly.



The Mall, the DFAC

and the "Bra"

Lost in Lost!

I'm spending the day watching the second half of this season.

So very good, so very intense.

Yay for friends with downloads!

A Very Long Day - First Leg Home

Last morning in Iraq and I’m unable to sleep in (just kept waking up). Was it the anticipation of the beginning of the end?

Breakfast and phone call home. Happy anniversary Ray - my homecoming is my gift to you.

Early CrossFit workout on my own. Did the Col Dolan (our wing deputy commander) legacy WOD: 480m run, 13 hang cleans (65#), 16 pullups (graduated to the purple band), 22 burpees, 35 knees to elbows, 80 walking lunges, 332m rowing, repeat. Finished in 43:30 and took my shower wearing my PT gear in order to rinse out all the sweat (hung it outside and it was dry for packing in a couple of hours).

First time back in uniform since Sunday – it felt strange after wearing it virtually for six months straight. Our squadron’s Change of Command ceremony was at 10:30a– I was there when it started (January 15) and I was there at the end (July 15). Afterwards kept myself cool in the Rec Center and finished watching Survivor (thanks to Chixor & Spuds).

Show time to load up and final out processing was at 2:30p (only two trips to lug my stuff to the basketball court for pickup). Bus to the PAX and human chain to unload all the bags (didn’t know there would be a second workout this morning). Very hot, very sweaty – so much so that my socks and boots were soaked. After getting checked in and a Pizza for lunch I suffered the cigarette smoke outside in order to take off my boots and enjoy the benefit of hot air drying.

We loaded up in the C-17 and took off around 6p. By now I wasn’t feeling too great (should have had more water while I was in the terminal). However, I was better able to handle the dehydration than someone else. Almost an hour into the flight (and out of Iraqi airspace) someone a few rows behind me had a medical emergency. Passed out and had a seizure. Fortunately we had a plane full of nurses and a couple of doctors. Unfortunately no IV fluids so we diverted to the US base in Kuwait (now I can say I’ve been to Ali Al Salem AB). That delayed our trip by two hours. She’ll be okay and just be a couple of days late getting home.


Arrived in Qatar at Al Udeid around 10p. As I feared, the in processing was long, very long. I was fortunate to be on the first bus off the plane. First we had the immigration, then the briefing and notification of our mission out of here in a couple of days. Helped to unload all the luggage off the pallets while the second group got ready for their briefing. Moved slowly through customs and then the real slow down occurred: Before we could turn in our IBA (vests) and chem bags we had to break down and rebuild the padding and straps in our helmets. Problem was there were only four screwdrivers at the table. I was in line for 40 minutes (and this was considered the first group, it was now after 1a.

The bus from the PAX to the Coalition Compound took us all the way around to the transient tents instead of directly to the housing office – good thing I was already used to hoofing it all over the place (even in the dark). Got to the transient housing office and another wait (but at least they had ice cold water). Got a bunk around 3a - the shower felt so great! At that point I thought I’d just stay up and maybe nap at the pool in the afternoon, so I walked across the compound to the dining facility. Reading the newspaper I found I was trying too hard to not fall asleep in my breakfast. Yeah, better to go all the way back to the tent and get some Zzzzzzs. This is the part when I blessed the lucky stars that I was one of the first group off the plane, because at 5a there were still people waiting for their bed assignment.
[insert pictures]

Three hours later I’m sitting in the coffee shop and typing about my longest day. Traveling in big groups is never smooth, never fast. But from touchdown to bed down 6-8+ hours is ridiculous when it’s the middle of the night. On the plus side, I’m scheduled to be in the states in less than 72 hours!