Enjoyed the Fall with a Hike at Mt Charleston

Our friend Jill, Ray & Me at the start of the hike.

More pictures are on Ray's Flickr and mine.

Fall TV Schedule

While in Balad I missed out on the Spring TV season. Fortunately I have some great friends who recorded many of my favorite shows and sent them to me so I could get caught up. Then I found the rest on Hulu.com or the network sites.

So I thought seeing the fall TV season schedule would be exciting. New shows! New season of my favorites. What is going to be appointment TV?



Looking pretty bleak on the regular networks. Leaves room for the cable stations for sure (and fortunately our DVR can do two shows at the same time when we need it).

Nutrition Tool Box for the Deployed Dietitian

This past week I was at Fort Sam Houston (San Antonio, TX) attending a postgraduate course given by the Army for deploying dietitians. Over the three days we talked about sports nutrition, burns, trauma, critical care, humanitarian aide, and detainee nutrition care. For me it was a mix of validation of information I had figured out on my own (or with a few emails back and forth with one of the Army dietitians in Iraq), and some new information that I wish I had known before my deployment.



I hope I have the opportunity to share the knowledge from this program with other dietitians before they deploy. And with civilian dietitians working in trauma and burn units. The sports nutrition (we consider military folks to be athletes) will also come in handy in civilian private practice.

One of the other great things about this past week was meeting up with the Air Force dietitians in attendence - and that I actually knew them (since I haven't been around conferences or USAF dietitian symposiums I can't put faces to names when I look at the roster, because I just haven't had the opportunity to meet many folks in our career field). But I knew everyone else there. Some from working at Nellis AFB and some from Travis AFB.

Did I Have A Good Time?

Lots of folks at work have been asking about my time in Balad (they never read this blog). So I get asked this same question a few times a day.

Hell yes!!!!!

There are some things I miss about JBB.

1. Walking (yes, I miss all the walking) - because it was so easy and good for me. What I don't miss about all the walking was the sweaty underware (when it started getting hot).

2. Regular breakfast. Fresh cut up fruit and smiling faces serving hot food in the hospital DFAC. Food in the hospital cafeteria back here in Las Vegas has changed for the worse (economics). And a small 1/2 cut up pineapple is $1!!!

3. More consistency with my workout program - because there were fewer distractions and it was so easy to get to the daily CrossFit class.

4. No cell phone - yup, fewer distractions, no interruptions, slower paced life has a lot to be desired. On the other hand, now I get to talk to my hubby more than just once a day (so that's a plus for having a cell phone).

5. Mongolian Night at DFAC2. Although I heard that since they opened the new DFAC2 the food has gone way downhill and there is no Mongolian there on Tuesday nights. So I guess I'm not missing anything now.

6. Sunday night Bingo at the Rec Center. In six months of playing I won a total of 4 games. Not great odds, but it was something I looked forward to every week. And I did win a game on my very last Sunday night in JBB. So that was special.

CrossFit in Las Vegas

Time to get back to serious workouts. Just can't get them on my own at the gym up the street. Not going to give up my membership ($35/m, open 24 hrs) cause in the dead of freezing winter or the blazing heat of the summer there is plenty of cardio equipment and some useful free weights. But I'm working out on my own (and intimidating some of the men, hehehehe).


I needed that support and structure of the CrossFit class I got in Balad. I needed the real pullup bars and the kettlebells and more than one barbell to do some of the WOD (workout of the day).

Googling CrossFit Las Vegas led me to, ta da!

It must be kismet (fate) because the gym is only 4 miles away (not too out of the way when I'm driving home from work).

Had my baseline evaluation today with Mike. After watching me jump rope, row, airsquat, do crossfit situps & pushups and demonstrate a pullup, he had me to the baseline workout: 500m row, 40 airsquats, 30 situps, 20 pushups, 10 pullups (used the purple band) in 6:45.

I stayed for the first of 12 Elements classes. Today we reviewed proper form in airsquats, deadlifts and pushups. Then we did the workout: 200m run, followed by 3 rounds of 15 airsquats, 12 deadlifts (I did 65#), 9 pushups, finish with another 200m run; my time 6:32. This workout will be repeated at the end of the course and I have to improve my time (should be easy since my legs were deadweights after the baseline workout so my run sucked).

Feels good to be back with the "muscle heads" (as my husband calls it). He should come visit - lots of women doing these workouts, not a typical bodybuilder type in the room. And we'd all kick his butt in any workout (shhhh, don't tell him I wrote that). I'd love for him to do this with me. But that is up to him, not me.

Top 10 Great Things About Being Home

10. I have a car.

9. Fine dining and good wine (and/or champagne).

8. I can do my own laundry in the comfort of my own home and fold the clothes the way I like, and have clean items in <3 hours.

7. Live news for the local area (on the TV and the radio).

6. Real high speed internet/wifi.

5. New clothes.

4. TV live or DVR (along with first run movies in the movie theater opening weekend).

3. I can let my hair loose any time I want.

2. I can roll out of bed naked and it's only 10 steps to the bathroom.

1. Sleeping next to my husband.

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.