Life on the Vine

If all goes according to plan I will be heading home next week.  On the same flight as me will be our G3 (Operations) Movements NCO, SSG Lovato.  Who is redeploying after a year+ deployment.  We (the Public Affairs Office) wanted to give him a special farewell gift...something for him to remember us by.  So we got creative.  Below is one of the pictures we took.  It's not actually the one we gave him but it's the one I happen to have in my personal e-mail account.  We titled it "What do you mean our movement request was denied?"  We made signs with destinations like Thailand, Margaritaville, EuroDisney, Hollywood, and New York City. We had Sunday off here for Memorial Day.  Regarding our work week...Fridays and Saturdays are our weekends and Sundays are our Mondays.  Thus our holiday being on Sunday.  Well, on Sunday we had a really nice BBQ with steak, chicken, homemade macaroni and cheese, baked beans, a veggie and fruit tray, tons of chips and baked potatoes.  

Sorry it's been a while since I posted a blog.  Time is going by quickly here as my time is starting to wind down.  I've been staying pretty busy in the evenings with my exercise classes and walks.  Also, I got pretty sick a few weeks ago.  I was referring to it as "the situation." It took about a week and a half before I started feeling better. It is starting to warm up here in Baghdad.  I have stopped wearing jeans!  This morning it was almost 90 degrees at 7:30 and yesterday it got up to at least 106 degrees.  I know this is only a preview of what July and August will be like.  When we travel we have to wear long sleeve shirts.  Knowing this and knowing I would be redeploying in early June I purchased a thin cotton shirt that rolls up into a short-sleeve shirt.  I'm hoping it will help make my trip on the C-130 a bit more bearable.  That may be wishful thinking.   I have sent two boxes home and have cleaned my room out a bit.  My redeployment date is Ju