The Habecks

Catching Up: Part II

2010-09-25T15:56:00.000-04:00

So after a week or two in Colorado we hopped on a plane to New York to visit Ilana! Daddy drove down from his class in Rhode Island, grandmama flew with us and Auntie Nikki and Uncle Nick drove up from DC. We had a great weekend in the city - Maddie got her first haircut on Madison Ave at the kiddie cuts place, we hit up a few touristy spots and of course Dylan's. We had a fourth of July picnic in Central Park with Auntie Albena and Uncle Guy who are baking a new friend for Maddie to play with on the next visit (who is now here, her name is Ellie and she is a doll!).

Maddie diggin on some corn on the cob at the Greek restaurant....

Auntie Nikki!!!!!!!!

Hey boys!!!!!!!!!

Central Parkin' it...

Then back to Colorado for some Gpa time...

And grandmama ice dancing....

Then Ilana came to visit us in Colorado! And Auntie Tracie came home to play too! WOOOWHOOOO!

Ok, Part III of our crazy transition from Key West to Italy coming soon..... phew, we have a lot of catchin up to do!

Catching Up: May to July

2010-09-22T07:01:00.000-04:00

We said goodbye to our Key West home early Saturday morning, and headed up to Orlando, Florida for the first week of May. It was Expo time! We all survived the long drive and spent the weekend having fun which included a trip to SeaWorld. Maddie kept signing "more" when the whales jumped and had a blast playing in the fountain...

My friend Judie from work and her friend Cindy came with us to Sea World and we had lots of fun!

Grandpa Brandt flew out mid-week to hang out with Jackson and Maddie while I worked and then Friday Maddie and I flew to California for some Grandma time while Jackson, Grandpa and Dixie drove the Tahoe to Wisconsin!

We picked up Great Grandma Gloria and headed up to Beverly Hills after meeting Grandmama Brandt at the airport. We went to the beach, to the Santa Monica pier, Rodeo Drive and found a farmer's market that had a petting zoo! We met up with Auntie Jessi, Jesse and Sully that week too...

THEN we flew to Colorado with Grandma Brandt where we spent a few weeks working and playing. It was so wonderful to have that much time with Grandma and Grandpa!

The NAS Key West Air Spectacular!

2010-04-15T21:28:00.002-04:00

We gathered the family on Sunday and took miss Maddie to the airshow on base. I hadn't seen the Blue Angels in years! Brought me back to good times with my daddy, wish you were here for this! We had a blast, and felt pretty *special* as guests of the CO we were right up front in his tent! oooh-la-la!

Maddie LOVES airplanes and mommy loves pajamas. hahaha

Happy Easter!

2010-04-05T11:04:00.000-04:00

Miss Maddie had double duty this Easter! She was our Easter bunny and the ultimate Easter egg. Ain't she pretty? Pretty freaking cute!

Making Pasta - Preparing for Italy!

2010-03-27T11:49:00.005-04:00

I'm thinking that during the next few years I'll have to befriend some Italians who can help me perfect homemade pasta and marinara sauce. That being said, I have to establish a good initial recipe because I wouldn't want to embarrass myself at the first go-round. We invited some friends over to test the recipe, and, it went pretty well!!

The final product - freaking yummy:

Let's back up, and start with the classic soffritto:

Add diced tomatoes and lots of herbs:

After an hour or so of simmering, add the secret ingredients:

Moving on to the dough:

Eggs, olive oil, and lots of HERBS:

Ready to build it!

Homemade pasta.... homemade sauce... oh yeah!

The end result:

Dev comes to visit!

2010-02-07T20:20:00.000-05:00

Thank you Dev for posting on your blog about your trip to key west, so I just have to link to it - heehee. It was so great to see you, we can't let that much time come between our visits again!

http://kamannkhronicles.blogspot.com/

Dancing at Blue Heaven

2010-01-29T06:43:00.001-05:00

By far the cutest dancing video to date of Miss Maddie Marie! She obviously loves live music with her dinner, and loves that roosters roam free at Blue Heaven. "Birdie! Birdie!"

Maddie didn't like her first bite of Key Lime pie, but like most foods I'm guessing she won't be able to get enough the second time around!

Happy Birthday Maddie Marie!

2010-01-24T23:03:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, January 23, we celebrated Madison's first birthday. Thank you so much to our friends and family who sent cards and gifts, we very much cherished the day and reminisced about this crazy day last year.

We celebrated our little conch's island lifestyle at Southermost point of the continental U.S. Let's start with our birthday song, smiles and breakfast:

Then we put on our hula outfit and had an island show (OMG get ready to fall off your seat laughing):

Ok... hilarious, right?!

Moving on... to cake! Of course we made a replica of the Southermost point, complete with a lil' conch shell. It did have a first birthday candle on top but it was the first thing to go... this was her first taste of momma's cakes, and it won't be her last (oh, and by the way: yes, this was the best I could do since we still don't have a darn kitchen, sigh)...

She soon got in to it....

And then so did mommy....

And don't forget the Dixie!

All done!

Since we were already messy, we decided to have some painting fun in the backyard. Might as well go all out...

Then it was time for a bath! We got all dressed up in our lil' birthday dress and headed out for some fun. First stop was the Southernmost Point. We got in line with the tourists and can you imagine the guy in front of us was celebrating his birthday too (it was not his first). We had to take a picture with him, Mr. Gary Cameron from Ohio:

All smiles with our princess sash!

Time to hit more of the sights... the Southernmost Southernmost House and the Southernmost House/Hotel:

It was time to play, so we headed off to the park! You'll never guess who we ran in to there... a little girl celebrating her first birthday! And I'm not talking about Maddie! Better yet... her momma remembered us being wheeled off to the surgery room! Her daughter was born about 7 minutes after Maddie. She was having a huge party there (with 60 of their closest friends and family), so we, um, kinda crashed her party and took pictures with her piñata and balloons. LOL

The birthday girls swing together:

....and that about sums up our wonderful day! Lots of love to daddy, we miss you!

Merry Christmas everyone!

2009-12-25T20:45:00.017-05:00

Merry Christmas everyone from Key West, Florida! It was so hot today, the A/C was back on full blast and we stripped down to shorts and tank tops again for our neighborhood walks. What a crazy way to spend Christmas! Grandpa Brandt and Auntie Tracie are here visiting for the holidays and Grandma Brandt spent lots of time with us via Skype. We got to see our Habeck family in Wisconsin last week so the holidays had lots of family time for us!

Miss Maddie is just growing super fast - just look and see what she started doing today with the video below! She is popping her third tooth too so her birthday smiles are sure to be different in a month's time. She dances and gives kisses all day long, what a fun age!

And of course, it wouldn't be right without posting the typical "first encounter" with Santa...

Two nights ago we all jumped aboard the lil' Conch Train and rode around town with festive holiday spirits singing the classic favorites while enjoying a tour of the most decorated homes of the island. Its pretty much the most festive thing you can participate down here to make it "feel" like Christmas...

Ok, here are a few of my favorite pics from Maddie's first Christmas....

Our matching monkey christmas pajamas (Tracie had them too!)

EEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

Kissing all of our gifts after we open them, awww!

Well, time for bed but that actually isn't all for now folks... more pictures posted to www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Happy Turkey Day!

2009-11-23T14:15:00.001-05:00

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

And.... we have movement!

2009-11-01T17:25:00.001-05:00

Watch out world, here she comes!

Happy Halloween!

2009-10-30T09:22:00.002-04:00

2009-10-21T14:20:00.000-04:00

While mommy works... sigh. They are SO CUTE THOUGH. I heard giggling and had to check it out.

Fun dinner tonight!

2009-10-09T20:16:00.002-04:00

Tonight Maddie had her first blueberries and she baby loved them! She also had purple cauliflower, beef, homemade millet cereal and a veggie combo of leeks, asparagus and sweet potato. She is really enjoying different tastes with every meal and I just love making things for her! It's my weekend hobby, cooking for Jackson and Maddie!

By the way, she is doing her "skrinkle" here much like I did as a young tot. Its so freaking cute!

More weekend fun!

2009-10-04T20:34:00.004-04:00

Guess what Maddie is in to now?! Biter biscuits! We got some organic ones from the Sugar Apple store here in Key West and she baby loves them! This one started on our evening walk and she wasn't quite done yet so she hung out in her chair with daddy and watched some football! Ain't she a doll?! And yes, that is her Packer sippy cup - she's getting so big!

And we headed out to the butterfly museum again today! Maddie is really into it now and just looks around at everything and is amazed by all the flying creatures! She's so precious! We had another GREAT weekend!

A weekend of fun with the Habecks!

2009-09-20T08:27:00.018-04:00

What a great weekend! Maddie and I enjoyed our Friday together, we had lots of play time with Dixie and we met up with daddy for lunch on base at the Navigator:
Beach baby!

Daddy & Me

My twin ducky, hi everyone!

My fun bean bag chair...

weeeeeeeeeee...

heehee

Here are some videos of me & my buddy playing:

I love to dance!

Mommy & daddy took me to Smathers Beach:

Are you ready for some football?! YAWWWW!

Dixie has some company in the pool these days, grandpa sent us his remote control boat. It is just hilarious, I'm sure the neighbors hate us though:

Must see videos...

Riverdancing!

2009-09-09T13:15:00.007-04:00

I absolutely love watching Maddie kick her feet - whether she is on her blanket, on the changing table, in the pool or bathtub, or in her bouncer. She certainly has a future in Riverdancing... so precious! She's really getting strong with her arms too and we know any day now she's gonna be wiggling all over the place. She's already a rolling-over champ and can be across the room in a blink of an eye. I really wanted to post a video of her after-bath baby massage but I will refrain from naked baby postings for her sake in 15 years from now.... LOL

Colorado Time!

2009-08-19T16:19:00.006-04:00

Part Two

2009-07-30T06:37:00.002-04:00

Daddy really wanted to take me up to one of his favorite places, Great Grandma Waack's cabin in MI. So we hopped in the car for a two hour drive and I did very well! Especially considering anywhere we go back home is a 5 minute car ride and I'm not used to being in my seat that long! I think I'll learn to love car rides like momma...

The cabin was beautiful and we had a great time. Nothing like kicking back and simplifying life a bit. I got to play with daddy's teddy bear from when he was a little boy, play on auntie Jessi's strawberry shortcake blanket, and even drool all over a kitty toy that grandma used to play with when she was a little girl!

I got some quality great grandma time too, lots of cuddles and play time. We had so much fun! When I get a little older mom and dad can take me out on the boat and for ATV rides too...

Part One: Maddie's first Wisconsin trip...

2009-07-19T14:19:00.008-04:00

As always, mommy and daddy took a ton of pictures so we'll have a few blog posts from our recent trip to Wisconsin. The first few days I got to revisit and also meet a lot more of our family:

Miss Marley & I bonded together on my blanky:

Grandpa knew I liked the fishes out back, and do you like my rasberry beret?

Grandma taking me for a ride around the yard while Grandpa makes some bacon!

They tell me Auntie Jessi is baking me a cousin to play with!!!

There's my uncle Jason!!!

me & daddy:

Great grandpa Habeck!!

Great grandma Habeck!

Great grandma Waack!

Me & grandma all red, white and blue! GO USA!

Walking Sideways!

2009-07-03T08:22:00.002-04:00

This happens sometimes when you live on an island.... p.s. I'm way behind on posting but there are a ton of pics from June up at www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

30 years ago...

2009-06-17T10:04:00.002-04:00

look like anyone else we know?!

Grandpa & Maddie - FINALLY

2009-06-10T07:27:00.005-04:00

This is about an hour before my dad had to go back to Colorado in January:

And this was yesterday!

It will be a fun-filled few weeks with grandpa, YEAH!!!!

Dixie Kisses

2009-06-03T18:28:00.006-04:00

Ok, I thought it was a bit much but then... watch the whole video. SO CUTE!!!

Cereal!

2009-05-31T18:03:00.004-04:00

Ahh Gooo MaaaChuuu Booooo DaLaaaGoooo

2009-05-17T15:54:00.007-04:00

Bebe Pod

2009-05-17T15:43:00.004-04:00

This is so our new favorite thing - we went up to Miami last weekend for one night because Jackson was nominated for a wonderful award: The South Florida Federal Executive Board's Employee of the Year for the Scientific/Technical category. Pretty cool, huh?! Maddie got to experience her SECOND Marriott and first conceirge lounge. We hit babies r us and target, and she did SO well on the drive! Very exciting...

Auntie Jen comes to visit!

2009-05-13T07:43:00.010-04:00

We had a super jam-packed, crazy adventure weekend with Jen! It was super fun, but it also left us super tired! Maddie the tourist strikes again... and full pictures can be viewed from www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Up, up and away! Jen and I had a blast parasailing - on my recommendation list for all our visitors now!

Back at the acquarium, some day they will know us by name!

This is how you earn a BIG TIP - offer to hold the baby while everyone eats! We love Blue Heaven, and they really do have the best key lime pie on the island!!!

So, Maddie had her first conch tour train ride... and she decided to fill her pants before we took off. Had to change her outfit if you know what I mean... I turned back and told everyone on the train they couldn't come to key west without seeing someone naked so here she is...

Maddie the train ridin tourist.

We climbed the top of the shipwreck museum... the only thing worth doing there.

The beach!

Jen and the Queen of the night!

And this is how the weekend left all of us:

Butterflies everywhere!!!

2009-05-02T10:22:00.005-04:00

We took Maddie to see the Butterflies and she loved it!

Auntie Sharon comes to visit!

2009-05-02T10:18:00.004-04:00

Sharon and Chuck came to vacation and visit from Wisconsin... and Maddie got to meet them! There were LOTS of smiles... it was so fun to see Sharon again (its been years!) and great to meet Chuck (finally!)

:-)

A taste of Key West!

2009-05-02T10:10:00.003-04:00

Maddie can sleep through anything.

When she finally awoke from her nap, mom and dad had already devoured some pretty good food from the booths at The Taste of Key West celebration - yummy pork sandwiches, kobe sliders, cupcakes... it was a fun celebration but the crowds got so packed we couldn't stay much longer. Maddie just loves looking around at everything!

And of course I HAD to ask if we could take a pic with these guys... the horse turned after the pic and gave us a kiss!

Chicago: Planes, the cold, GRANDMAMA and the ER.

2009-04-27T06:42:00.010-04:00

I'm a bit behind, I know. But this week really thru me off...

April 11th marked the day Maddie first adventured on a plane. I wish Jackson could have come with us, heaven knows I could have used his help - but someone was looking out for us because we sat next to the most wonderful, understanding folks out there. I was so nervous. I didn't want her ears to hurt or for her to be scared and scream on the plane like I've heard so many babies do myself, I didn't want to be "that" person... and we weren't! The first plane was cramped and small and her eyes were just wide open with all the new noises and movements. I felt as though she was looking at me like, "Is this ok?!" It was adorable. It was too hot and too inconvenient for me to find the cover-up for feeding, and I apologized to those around us but no one really seemed to mind. I think they'd rather have that than a screaming baby anyway... we both got a nap in, I think she'll travel like her momma. The only other thing I want to throw out there about plane rides is this: I think the pressure did get to Maddie, but not to her ears. She filled her pants (I mean FILLED) each time the big plane took off. The two nicest ladies ever helped me change her in my lap. The first time Maddie had to sit naked for about 30 minutes because her outfit was completely soiled and the no seat-belt sign was on for take-off. I had everything but an outfit in the seat-back pocket in front of me... the second time I had an outfit too. Momma learns...

Ok, so a large part of the Chicago trip was REALLY hard: adjusting to the hotel; the freezing cold wind that pierces through layers of clothing and gives baby a runny nose that makes it even harder to sleep; Maddie fussing about not taking a bottle AGAIN even though she'd been taking it well at daycare; etc. But, I don't want to focus on all that anymore... but if any of you new mommas are traveling out there, email me because I certainly have some advice now.

So lets focus on this: Maddie and grandmama. Lots of great grandmama times include a crazy trip to the grocery store, a swim at the pool in the hotel, goofy games with a box of couscous and flying blue napkins, a brisk walk back to the hotel from momma's work and precious nap time cuddles. Maddie was just bright-eyed and fascinated by the big city sounds and gave grandmama lots of smiles. Enough that I could catch them on camera:

Lunch with my wonderful coworkers:

Momma whips out that flashy thing again...

Sleepy cuddles...

Big tall buildings to see!

Baby's first cab ride!

She liked the pool, but she had a quivering lower lip as she smiled so it didn't last long the poor frozen thing! HA!

What to eat, what to eat...

Her first Marriott:

A special thanks to my friends who helped us so much on this trip too. We borrowed a car seat, a stroller and even a ride to the ER the last night we were there. Woke up Thurs morning and I saw a white patch on Maddie's tongue - I thought to myself, please don't be thrush. By the end of the day she wasn't eating and violently thrashing about when she tried. My friend picked us up from the hotel, took us to the ER by her house and then to get the medication and let us crash at her house. Topped it off with a ride to the airport in the morning. Maddie started eating again like a champ in the ER and my nerves were calmed. It cleared up quickly with medication too - thank goodness.

We were so glad to be home... but still can't wait to see grandmama again soon!!!

Maddie the tourist...

2009-04-07T12:32:00.004-04:00

Tourist attraction that is! She is quite the little show-stopper attracting a lot of attention everywhere we go... cuteness.

We have taken her to the aquarium and the little white house tour. We must take advantage of free sundays for locals while we can, and heaven knows we need to get out of the house! Its been fun, and getting SO MUCH easier...

Bubbles, bubbles, bubbles....

Maddie next to a bust of Harry S Truman...

For complete photos click on our picture link to the right...

Daddy's dance moves...

2009-03-31T07:15:00.002-04:00

Everyone was asking what daddy was doing on St Patty's while we were at the beach. We let him out of the house, look what happened... ain't he precious?! We love him.

Maddie hits the beach!

2009-03-18T10:18:00.010-04:00

Happy St Patty's Day! Auntie Jessi and mommy took baby girl to the beach... born on an island, it was about time! :-)

Rate these dance moves!

2009-03-15T21:58:00.004-04:00

Look to the right column for polling questions to this video:

Living room bath time fun!

2009-03-13T12:06:00.004-04:00

So, it was a rough evening and just when I thought I could guess her schedule she proves me wrong... and since she didn't get a bath last night, we decided we'd make it a fun morning activity... in the middle of the living room. hee hee... she didn't know what to think at first but then she got into it a bit. She loves her hair washings, well, until it makes her cold that is! :-)

Auntie Nikki & Auntie Ilana come to visit!!!

2009-03-08T18:38:00.009-04:00

Oh we so needed this weekend, all of us. Each day we had a major outing, it taught mommy and daddy that we CAN have a bit of a life with our new addition... and got us out of the house - feeling good!

Day 1 Accomplishment: Spa day.
Eyebrow waxing and a pedicure. Jackson and I both got to change our first diapers in public too - and feed her in Auntie Nadine's work chair. Thank you too "All About You" in Key West for being our spa heroes! I love that place!!!

Day 2 Accomplishment: Going out to dinner.
We actually headed out to Duval and had dinner! I couldn't get the hooter hider to work right though when feeding, we'll work on that. I'd rather just whip it out really, Florida law says it ain't against the law to show nipple if you have to breastfeed! Sigh.

Day 3 Accomplishment: Sears Photo Studio
I seriously almost killed the photographer. I was happy with the first shot/pose. I would have bought prints for sure - but they require 6 different poses before you can order anything and the session is complete. She was not happy, which makes me unhappy. And the idiot missed a lot of good photo opportunities - um, hello, digital photos - take more photos than not! But, we all survived and she is darn cute (see the photos below on the next blog). Here is daddy carrying her out of Sears:

The only thing I didn't accomplish was a photo with both Nikki & Ilana and baby... geesh.

THANK YOU GALS so much for taking care of me... come back and feed me grapes anytime. LOL I so needed this.... LOVE YOU GALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy 1 month birthday Maddie girl!

2009-02-24T09:02:00.004-05:00

We survived Sears portrait studio, the photographer almost didn't survive... ain't she cute?! All of them are uploaded to www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Grandmumma & Grandstummo

2009-02-19T09:59:00.003-05:00

Before they set off on their fabulous 9 day cruise (!!!), the new Habeck grandparents got to spend 5 great days with little Maddie Marie! It was still mostly sleeping, eating and changing diapers - but all was quality time just because they were here! Not to mention how amazing and wonderful it was for us to have the help with cleaning and cooking. THANK YOU!!!

Our two-week check-ups

2009-02-10T09:46:00.002-05:00

After a rough start, momma and baby are doing very well! Although Maddie quickly discovered she did not like the doctor's office and nothing would comfort her, everything checked out well. She gained a whole pound, and the doc commented that they like to at least see birth-weight at that point (babies can lose a bit in the beginning) so whatever we were doing was working great.

The power of boobie juice.

Momma is doing well too: my interesting "happy face" scar is healing well and I've lost 25 lbs. The swelling has really subsided and I stopped taking pain meds a few days before the checkup. There seems to be only a few moments in the day where I'm reminded by a bit of pain to slow down and that I'm still recovering. I'm not allowed to lift anything other than baby for 6 weeks and have to take these iron pills for that long too because of blood loss. It will be quite the relief when that part is over.

Thank goodness for Beth and for Dr. Ward. They truly make a great team and really were there for me, for all of us. I'll never be able to thank them enough... I'll have to make them a cake someday though, and one for the labor & delivery staff at the hospital too... hmmmm.....

Grandmama meets Madison Marie

2009-02-08T09:08:00.004-05:00

Although my dad, sister and mother were all here for a good amount of time in January, only Grandmama got to meet and spend time with little baby cakes. Grandmama got a whole week with the little one and they both enjoyed every second of it. Here are some highlights:

Actually four generations represented here because these beautiful flowers are from Great Grandma Gloria! Aren't we cute?!

Oh little cuddles with a little fussles... its ok...

I love Maddie's face here, cracks me up:

Baby's first sponge bath, she LOVES her hair washed - LOVES IT!

I think this was one of mommy & daddy's highlights - thanks for all the diaper changes! hee hee

Certainly one of Madison's favorite things: GRANDMAMA!

Madison Marie Photos

2009-02-03T11:50:00.001-05:00

I take a ton of pictures so I'm always behind, but we have a ton up at www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

ENJOY!

Our labor & delivery story

2009-02-01T11:48:00.007-05:00

I'm a big believer that your body just knows what its doing with this childbearing stuff, and looking back on things I think my body just knew and was trying to tell us things weren't going to go as planned. The whole story would fit nicely into a Private Practice episode if you ask me...

8 days after her due date, I finally let the doc "strip my membranes." Ewww, huh? It actually sounds a lot worse than it was, seriously. The process is supposed to help aid in releasing a hormone that some medical professionals believe will kick start labor. The next day, we did it again. We also decided it was time to induce so we went back home and gathered everything before heading to the hospital. Good old Vitamin P (nickname for Pitocin) started pumping through my veins early in the afternoon.

My labor plan was to "do my best" at attempting a natural birth - both my grandma and my mother had relatively quick labors and I believe that the body is built for this and knows what its doing. I also believe its better for baby and mommy recovery too.

Her heartbeat wasn't doing well with the pitocin-induced contractions. They opted for internal monitors - and I think back to our baby class where they passed one of these monitors around and I saw the little metal piece that they put into baby's scalp. Big sadface, it broke my heart - but we needed more accurate heart monitoring and this was how to do it.

Still not doing better after some time, so they put me on oxygen. I've never had that before that I can remember (maybe one of those times in high school during a cross country race when I passed out from heat exhaustion?). Anyway, at this point I just feel like I've got things coming in and out of me from everywhere - so uncomfortable to go to the bathroom let me tell ya.

Speaking of going to the bathroom - Doc had to break my water. It was the strangest sensation ever. Her head didn't engage into the pelvis more with this either, but maybe its still a little early we were thinking. There was meconium in the amniotic fluid, so now respiratory therapists joined our delivery team to make sure baby girl was breathing right and ok when she came out...

More contractions, little one's heartbeat isn't showing a change for the better with these contractions. They're getting stronger, as is the pain. Seven hours of labor and I'm only dilated 5 cm. I beg for the epidural, all I can think about is that it took that long to only get to five? And I'm so nauseous, was not expecting that at all. My body isn't kicking in contractions on its own either, only the pitocin keeps it going.

Ahhh epidural. I can hear and process and focus a bit better now. Feel like a loser that I couldn't manage that pain but OH MY GOD. I'm so sorry little one... momma drugs you too.

We get to 10 cm. Push. Not feeling right, turn off epidural. Push some more, I understand what they're trying to tell me to do but it just physically doesn't feel right. Baby's heartbeat is not good. :-( They make the decision to stop pushing, that something "just isn't right" and I remember the wonderful nurse telling me that this happens for a reason and we'll soon know why. Ten hours of labor and we're going into surgery.

Doc shows up and we get ready for the c-section. I never thought it would come to this - and I so didn't want it this way. The whole progression of the evening is just unbelievable to me. I'm also thinking thank goodness that epidural is already set up and flowing now. I remember they were all in good moods and were playing some great music - I remember Eric Clapton. Jackson in scrubs. My arms "tied" down (ewww) and I was SO COLD. Quivering, feeling like my fingers and toes will have frost-bite! It must have been the drugs.

Surgery was rough. Turns out baby girl was stuck. Face-up with her sweet little arms stuck upward too. I remember vigorously shaking my body to get her free. I remember looking at Jackson and him telling me its going to be ok. I remember the respiratory therapist saying she wanted to help but needed to stay there for when she comes out. Doc said "I need a shoehorn to get this kid out." I couldn't believe the shaking. Then they said it: We're going to need to knock her all the way out, we'll have to ask daddy to leave now. So not what you wanted to hear. I so didn't want Jackson to leave! Or get knocked out!

No sooner than Jackson leaving the room, there was some twist/pull/push combo that freed our little girl. Little Madison Marie Habeck, our little M&M, was born 1/23/09 at 1:36 a.m. weighing in at 7 lbs and 10 oz, 21'' in length.

They warned me she wouldn't be crying for a little bit while they checked everything out and thank goodness they said that. It seemed like forever. It was a long time too - she scored only a 2 on her initial APGAR. So very scary. Then she quickly jumped to a healthy reading of 7 and 8. Later on the pediatrician told me he consulted with Miami on her condition which means there were thoughts at least of air-lifting her up there for further treatment and just thank goodness it didn't happen and her health went upward quickly after the rough delivery. As they were stitching up an additional tear in my uterus from her acrobatic maneuvers on the way out, I heard my sweet angel make a little noise. They brought her over to my face before taking her upstairs where daddy and grandmama were anxiously waiting. They stayed with her while I was put back together and monitored for a while.

So, we had a little extra recovery. I had to wait on breastfeeding because of additional medication I needed after surgery and it took about a day for the little one to really start eating anything - I think because of the drugs and stress of it all.

Looking back on it all, I really think my body just "knew" natural birth wasn't going to happen. The docs say I'll never be able to deliver vaginally because of the shape of my pelvis and also the strong tilt that will never allow for a baby to pass. Isn't that interesting? Thank goodness for modern medicine - I'll never forget the doc commenting that if this were 100 years ago there would be a very good chance neither of us would have made it. Crazy. Drama. Geesh.

But now here we are almost two weeks into it all and we're doing well. Cheers to good health everyone, and our precious little girl.

The Brandts come and then sadly go...

2009-01-18T12:36:00.000-05:00

Tracie was here for 17 days, daddy-o was here for 10. I really thought they would be here for the little one arrival, but I guess you just can never be sure what mother nature has in store for ya. It was, again, a huge relief to have them here and they did so much for me, Jackson, our house and preparing for baby. We got out only a handful of times and spent most of the time at home. I miss family being closer. It was so hard to see them go...

Auntie Tracie lovings!

Just before we took daddy-o to the airport on the 17th, thought I'd be caring her in my arms by now!

Still no baby girl.

More pics uploaded to www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Merbie updates!

2009-01-18T12:22:00.004-05:00

Merbie-loo... merbie ring ding ding... merbelicious... merbie-rama! (my poor mole is so stretched out)

Half a finished house!

2009-01-18T11:49:00.007-05:00

Thanks to my mom, dad, sister and Jackson for kicking ass on some housework I've been able to take photos I'm proud to share of the house remodeling. I'm not even going to write much because I just want you to look at the pics!!! I took a few more and you can see them all on www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Our master bath!

Dixie approves of the new bedroom:

Our new bedroom!

The "house" bathroom:

And the baby's room! It's ready! Now where is SHE? GEESH!

More pics uploaded - Jackson's Homecoming

2009-01-08T14:14:00.004-05:00

More pics added to Nov 19th album: www.kodakgallery.com/shelly

Pink.

2009-01-07T08:34:00.004-05:00

Jackson will love the new pink background, no? Well, he probably is getting at least used to pink and may possibly recognize it as the greatest color very soon. It feels like its already flooded our life with baby clothes and decor (I tried to have a good focus on green too!) but this baby girl is coming soon (I hope!) and I'm so excited to see pink everywhere. (For all you pink-haters - we have plenty of blue, green, yellow and red/white/blue - just let me have my moment being excited for pink ok?)

Here I am: January 6th. One week away from the official due date.

Our Holiday Letter - Love, Dixie

2008-12-31T07:57:00.003-05:00

Huhrow & Happy Holidays!

Mom and dad are always busy. There have been talks about writing a holiday letter to friends and family for weeks now, so I thought I’d take a moment from my lazy day here and draft one for them!

2008 proved to be another exciting year for the Habecks in Key West! We found out that daddy was going to be deployed to Iraq with the Army and it was a long 8 months away from home. I kept his side of the bed nice and warm for him and now that he’s back he takes me to the park and plays ruf-house style with me all the time. I love it! (Mommy is no good at tug of war, never has been.)

Speaking of good tug-of-war skills, we had a record amount of house guests to play with this year! It’s always good to be surrounded by family and friends, it makes for a happy mommy and daddy. Grandpa Brandt came to visit a few times while mommy traveled out of town for work and play. He helped out mommy a lot with home renovation projects and housework which proved to be a constant throughout 2008. I got a lot of quality time in with him while mommy took Auntie Tracie on her big graduation trip they’ve been planning for years—Jamaica and the Virgin Islands! From the pics online it sure looks like they had a blast! I hope more people come to play in 2009—we all miss you!

Mommy actually deployed this summer too for two months! She very much enjoyed her time with coworkers and exploring the big windy city of Chicago. I went to doggy summer camp at Raul’s house and made a lot of German Shepherd friends. It was so great when mommy came home, I realized just how spoiled I am here. I know it helped mommy not be so sad about daddy being gone too, she told me. We like to cuddle and talk a lot these days. Even more so with daddy being home. Life is good.

Come to think of it, mommy and daddy keep bringing up these words I don’t understand. They have added to my long list of nick-names “the big fuzz” and “big sister.” If anyone has gained weight around here and earned a nick-name with “big” in it– it’s mommy—not me! It looks like she swallowed a big watermelon. She rubs her belly all the time and talks to it too and when I look at her funny she says, “Oh Dixie, you’re gonna be a big sister very soon!” I think it means that 2009 is going to be another exciting year!

Ride on the little conch train..... for Christmas!

2008-12-28T18:02:00.010-05:00

I hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday, Jackson and I had quite the quiet day. I woke him up early because I noticed that Santa had left him a present on our dresser (I hid a gift in the baby's dresser drawer and he didn't know it was coming at all). He was very excited, and we had a wonderful time talking with families as we opened several boxes that had been delivered to the house recently. We miss you guys...

Christmas wasn't the same without being surrounded by family and friends. We did meet up with our friend Sandy for Christmas lunch at Pepe's. I had plans to cook but I sadly admit my feet, body and energy weren't up for the task this year (still managed to painted some trim on Christmas day in bathroom #2 though, don't be jealous). Pregnancy symptoms are certainly here - but everything is to be expected and if you take that into consideration I am doing very well. I just don't think she is ready - I think we'll hit her due date mid-January...

Oh I regress - when I think about Christmas I think of opening that one token gift of Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve and awaking the next morning to put on a pot of coffee for the parents and seeing the gifts Santa has left under the tree. You see, in Jackson's family, Santa comes the eve of the 24th (I think while they are at church and because they live so much closer to the North Pole he must start his deliveries up there, yah?) and its just an interesting adjustment between our two family traditions.

Either way, we're going to have to pave our own path next year with the little one's first Christmas experience. I just hope it involves matching family pajamas no matter how we work it. ;-) So, we opened gifts from his family on Christmas Eve. I love baby girl clothes - a Packer cheerleader's outfit, her first "little black dress," adorable baby books that fit our personalities for sure, yummy homemade treats and a ton of stuff on our baby registry that is just so very exciting to have(thank you!!!) - oh and my favorite thing is that every box had a little something for Dixie. Dixie LOVES Christmas. She already assumes every delivery truck that stops at the house has something for her because the FedEx lady leaves a dog bone with each package. SPOILED.

OH - Jackson surprised me with tickets to ride the little conch holiday train. They light up the tourist attraction and have an evening route that goes around playing holiday music and showing off the neighborhoods who decorated for the holidays. It was great, created a little more holiday atmosphere in this 80 degree weather...

How is it the middle of December already?!

2008-12-18T07:36:00.008-05:00

The weather has been pretty steady at 70-something with a few chilly evenings that certainly required a coat. Every evening we hear the little conch train do a whistle which means they're loading up to take folks around the neighborhood to look at Christmas decorations and I did catch a wonderful whiff of pine trees in front of the grocery store the other day.... but other than that, it is hard to believe that Christmas time is here.

My thoughts of Christmas are on island time. I've been putting in extra hours at work with deadlines and trying to prepare to hand my projects over before baby arrives. We're STILL doing house renovations but it has to end soon so we can clean and organize before baby arrives too! It's coming together though... it just never ends. We've all settled back into a routine with Jackson being home, and it's just a much happier place that is for sure! But there is still a million things to get done (including Xmas cards, sigh).

We had dinner with Jeremy & Mary twice last weekend! I tried to sport some festive red & green for watching the boat parade of lights... maybe I should have just worn a Santa outfit? ha ha ha! The parade wasn't very impressive - we got the biggest laugh out of the "alien" in lights = "the grinch."

Ultrasounds

2008-12-03T14:45:00.004-05:00

Jackson got to see a different side of Baby Girl Habeck recently... we saw her dancing about and blinking which was very cool. Technology these days! She is huge compared to the last ultrasound a few months ago, but everything looks great. The tech actually mentioned that photos at this point are a bit distorted because of the size of the baby compared to the scanning probe which I thought was interesting - he couldn't get a shot of the whole baby because she is so big now! (and made me feel better about the size of those lips! HA HA HA)

Here we've got a profile and a foot shot...

Now we've made it...

2008-12-01T08:39:00.007-05:00

Ok, so I thought we were way cool with the VFW posting "Welcome home LT Habeck" on their sign but then it just kept getting better...

Here is the front page of the Key Noter from last week:

And then we made it into the Conch Color too - which let me tell you - you have to be "somebody" to get in the Conch Color down here and we got a lot of attention from this; even the crew at the dog park mentioned it! Thank you for making me feel so cool this week world! Everyone is SO excited that my monkey is home! YEEAHHHHHH!!!!!

Homecoming Photos!

2008-11-26T12:04:00.010-05:00

We had a wonderful homecoming and our happy little expanding family is back together, words do not describe the amazing and overwhelming feeling of happiness (and relief!).

We've been super busy since he's been home (is there any other way?) still renovating the house, lots of time at the dog park and running errands. We took a day trip to do a little shopping up North in Miami because it was my last weekend that I'm "allowed" to go outside this island because of insurance and baby reasons. We bought a few things off our registry and Jackson HAD to have an adorable cookie monster bath towel and little Elmo outfit. We had a nice dinner too, something we couldn't get in Key West and it was an exciting, yet exhausting, day trip!

Ok - I'm going back to hanging out with hubby - but some pictures are up and posted on our kodak site (Pictures link to the right). I hope to get more from others, I was a bit pre-occupied and not taking a lot of photos! Here are a few highlights:

How cool of the local VFW, and this is where you turn to our house too. Thanks guys!

Giddy and happy after the arrival and the airport!

Jackson and puppy are like two peas in a pod, they missed each other terribly and yes we went to the park like two hours after he flew in!

I love my overalls, man that belly is getting SO round and huge!

Jackson "back to work" hee hee.... bedroom progress!

Deployment - Day 206

2008-11-25T15:56:00.001-05:00

Day Two Hundred Six – Wednesday, 19 NOV 2008 – Last day in Kuwait/Travel/End of the journey home
Warrior Transition Program/Travel/Home
Kuwait City/Dulles/Tampa/Key West Airports and Home

Day Two Hundred Six was a very long day of travel, but now I am finally at journey’s end and am home. The day started out with me boarding our flight in Kuwait City, which took forever since it was a big plane. I found that I had a seat with a lot of leg room, which was good, but it was still a thirteen plus hour flight, direct from Kuwait City to Washington, D.C.

I didn’t sleep very much during the flight and watched parts of a few movies and tracked our progress on the map. Each seat had its own little video screen and that helped pass the time. The movie selections sucked, but I made the best of it. I also had a couple of Bacardi and diet cokes, which I spaced out on the trip. Each one made me feel pretty good, so it was worth the $6 a piece I paid for them. I did manage to spill a glass of water on my lap as well, good thing most of it ended up on the blanket and there was a spare one for me to use.

So finally this long ordeal came to an end and we landed in D.C. It was just starting to get light there, so we spent our entire flight in the dark and that was both good and bad. Once we got off the plane, we had to go through the passport screening and then customs and then security. This process took nearly two hours.

When I got through this, I said a quick goodbye to Jamie, since he had to run to make his flight to San Diego. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to my boss. I hurriedly found the next flight leaving for Tampa and managed to get on board that flight and get a little step closer to home a little earlier. I called Shelly to let her know I made it onto this flight.

As luck would have it, the first officer on that flight had a last name of Boochie, go figure, that being my brother’s nickname. Guess I was meant to make that flight. I didn’t sleep during the flight, but updated my blog and watched some Battlestar Galactica on my Ipod.

When I got off my flight, I raced to the next gate where a Key West flight was leaving from. I made it after the original departure time, but the plane was still there. Unfortunately, they had just filled the last seat on it, so I was out of luck. But at least I got on the next flight leaving a couple hours later instead of waiting 8 hours for my planned flight.

So I called Shelly and let her know the updated plan and then I went and got some lunch at Quiznos. We boarded our flight a little behind schedule and my bag made it to the flight in time, but if I hadn’t said anything, it wouldn’t have been put on the plane…

I was exhausted but was unable to sleep during the last leg of the flight. When we arrived, the pilots welcomed me home on the intercom and everybody clapped, that was kind of cool. When I got off the plane I was greeted by Shelly (and the baby) and the dog, along with my boss and coworkers and a bunch of people from the base. I must admit it was a little overwhelming, but a very good way to arrive home…

We went home and relaxed for a while and then Dixie really started playing and rough housing with me, so we took her to the dog park and played around for a while. We took her back home and took a break and then we did a little grocery shopping and had some Big John’s pizza for dinner…

It feels really good to finally be home. I will have Shelly post some pictures on her post and I will write a little summary sometime over this holiday weekend to wrap up my experience…

Deployment - Day 205

2008-11-25T15:46:00.001-05:00

Day Two Hundred Five – Tuesday, 18 NOV 2008 – Beginning of the journey home
Warrior Transition Program/Travel
Camp Arifjan/Kuwait City International Airport, Kuwait

Day Two Hundred Five was another day with some downtime in the morning, but we started our travel in the evening. I slept in until about 1000 and then I got up and showered and finished packing all of my stuff for my trip. I got all dressed up in my civilian attire, including collared shirt and khaki pants. Sure does feel different after all this time.

Then Jamie and I went to lunch at the DFAC and then to MWR to check our emails one last time. Then back to the tent to watch a little Family Guy and then I went and called Shelly on the phone a little earlier than usual, since we were traveling. After I talked with Shelly I met up with Jamie and we went to the DFAC one last time before grabbing our gear and heading to the pickup spot, which wasn’t far away.

Then we loaded all of our gear into SUVs and two minibuses and then headed towards the airport in a convoy. I napped a little bit on the way to the airport, but once we arrived, we unloaded our stuff and waited in line until security would let us through, we sat there about an hour. I guess United doesn’t open up their check-in lines very early.

So after going through three different lines and security checkpoints, we finally made it to an area where we could sit down and wait for our flight. We waited around for about 3 hours and this took us to the end of the day in Kuwait… Tomorrow will continue with the rest of the journey home… And very soon I will be able to see this most beautiful sight again!!!

Deployment - Day 204

2008-11-25T15:43:00.003-05:00

Day Two Hundred Four - Monday, 17 NOV 2008
Warrior Transition Program
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Day Two Hundred Four was another day with a lot of down time. I got up and headed over to the tent for our morning workshop. It consisted of a lot of talking with the chaplain about our experiences and how to interact with people at work and home after we get back. It was worthwhile and it took up the entire morning.

I went back to my tent for a while and watched a little Family Guy before heading to my doctor’s appointment around lunchtime. We took a bus over there and it was pretty quick and painless. Then I walked over to the bus stop and waited around with a chief until we rode the bus back to our area. Then Jamie and I went to Hardees for lunch.

Then we went to MWR where I checked my email and checked my fantasy football team. I lost again this week, but at least the Packers crushed the Bears 37-3. Then I went back to the tent again and watched a movie and a little more Family Guy and took a little nap before dinner.

Here's a picture of the airport in Iraq while we were waiting to leave for Kuwait...

We went to a late dinner and then went to the Warrior Transition tent, where I called and talked to Shelly for quite a while. I am now completely done with everything except leaving to go to the airport tomorrow, it’s a great feeling. Jamie and I smoked cigars afterword and bullshitted before heading back to the tent for the night. I will watch a few more episodes of Family Guy before going to bed, since I am not sleepy yet…

Deployment - Day 203

2008-11-25T15:40:00.002-05:00

Day Two Hundred Three - Sunday, 16 NOV 2008
Warrior Transition Program
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Day Two Hundred Three was another relaxing day, for the most part, and I finally got to turn in all of my gear and my weapon. I got up pretty early and got my stuff together for our gear turn in. I took it out to the warehouse and stacked it up and waited until they opened the doors.

When they opened the doors, we all went in and all of the staff was waiting for us and clapped as we all came in. We got our instructions and then we went and brought in all of our gear. I was one of the first ones in line and the first one to get through turning all of my gear. Then I went to turn in my weapon and after a little bit of cleaning, that was done too.

I then went in and had my orders, itinerary and theater release letter checked and then put in my medical Post Deployment Health Assessment. That will be followed up by an actual visit to a doctor in the next couple of days, which is standard procedure. Then I was done with the morning’s activities.

Here's another picture of vehicles before I left Iraq, I didn't take many pictures in Kuwait, I had nowhere to put the camera as I was cruising around in PT gear...

Jamie and I headed to Starbucks after that and got some coffee and I got a blueberry Danish. Then we went back to the tent and I watched some more Family Guy and then took a nap until it was lunch time. Then we went to the DFAC and then to MWR to check our emails. We had another guy from our tent join us on our lunch time excursion.

Then it was back to the tent for some more Family Guy until our afternoon briefing. The briefing was just some basic info on our whole outprocessing here in Kuwait and had some good info. It didn’t last too long and after it was over, I got my appointment time for my doctor’s visit and then went back to the tent for a little while until it was time for dinner.

We wandered back over to the DFAC and then back to the MWR tent where I had a chance to talk to Shelly for a little while, we are both starting to get very excited about me coming home. Then it was back to the tent until it was time to go and watch football over at the MWR tent. We watched the Giants/Ravens game until halftime, since the Packers/Bears game wasn’t on. The Packers were winning by two touchdowns at the half, but I am tired, so we headed to the PX and then back to the tent.

I watched a little more Family Guy before calling it a night, just one night left after this one, can’t wait to go home!

Deployment - Day 202

2008-11-25T15:37:00.003-05:00

Day Two Hundred Two - Saturday, 15 NOV 2008
Warrior Transition Program
Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Day Two Hundred Two was a very relaxed day and I got a good opportunity to decompress. I got up a little later than usual and hung out in my tent for a bit and watched some Family Guy before heading to the shower and getting ready for the day. We can wear PT gear or civilian clothes around now, but we still have to carry our weapons until we turn them in tomorrow.

I went to the muster and reported that everybody was in our tent and then I got the muster time for our group to turn in our gear tomorrow morning. I went and passed that word and that was all of our official stuff for the day. So I went and watched some more Family Guy and played around on my computer up until lunch.

Jamie and I went to lunch at the DFAC and then the PX and then on to MWR, where we checked our emails and I checked my fantasy football team. Then we went back to the tent and I took a little nap and played around on my computer some more.

Here's a picture of the moon the night before I left Iraq, it looked cool, but it didn't turn out as good in the picture...

This pretty much took me up until dinner time. We went again to the DFAC for dinner and then to the PX again before returning to the Warrior Transition tent where we made some phone calls. I talked to Shelly, who was taking a nap around lunchtime back in Key West. I then cleaned my weapon so it was ready for turn in. We went back to our tents and messed around on our computers some more and I watched a little more Family Guy…

Not a very exciting day, but it was good to have a chance to relax and now tomorrow we can get rid of most of our gear and most importantly, our weapons…

Deployment - Day 201

2008-11-25T15:23:00.003-05:00

Day Two Hundred One - Friday, 14 NOV 2008 – Travel Day – Last Day in Iraq
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq – Victory & Ali Al Salem/Camp Arifjan, Kuwait

Day Two Hundred One was a busy day, and a very long day, but now I am in Kuwait and not Iraq! I got up very early and even woke up before my alarm went off. I went and showered and got dressed and finished packing my stuff. I went and loaded up some of our bags into the truck and then went back to my room and finished loading the rest. And then we were off to the airfield.

We checked in there and we started seeing some familiar faces, including Jamie, who I hadn’t seen since our trip to Qatar. We went and got some coffee and got our baggage loading times and our gate call. Then we went to breakfast while we waited. Then it was time to get geared up and head out to the plane, after one false alarm, we made it out onto our C130.

I slept through our whole taxi to the runway, but was unable to sleep on our actual flight, good thing it was only about an hour and a half. Then we arrived in Kuwait and got onto a bus to take us over to the terminal area. We waited around for awhile and I ate a piece of KFC chicken while we waited around and walked to the PX. But then it was time to load our gear onto the truck.

That whole loading thing was a fiasco, including having to offload some of the bags again. I spent half the time in the truck loading 150 people’s bags and things up there, but then I needed a break. So after we finally got everything loaded up, we headed from the airfield to Camp Arifjan. This was about a 2 hour drive, in which I got some broken sleep and a sore neck.

But eventually we arrived and we hopped off the buses and offloaded our baggage and took it all to our assigned tents. After we got settled in, Jamie and I went and hit the PX here and then went over and got some subs and some fries at Charleys. It hit the spot after a long day of travel. Then back to our tent to get our stuff ready for turn in.

I took this picture of the crappy bed, which will be the last bed that I have to sleep in before getting back to my house...

After a while we went and got some linens for our beds and then I watched a little Family Guy. Then I went to MWR and waited in line for a while to call Shelly and let her know I arrived safely. I talked to her for the twenty minutes I was allowed and then headed back to my tent for the night. Now I will watch a little Family Guy before heading to sleep for the night.

Kuwait sure does suck, but getting one step closer to home is definitely worth it!

Deployment - Day 200

2008-11-25T11:54:00.002-05:00

Day Two Hundred - Thursday, 13 NOV 2008 – Checkout from GRC
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq – Victory

Day Two Hundred was my checkout day from GRC and my last full day in Iraq. I got up a little earlier than usual and got into my PT gear and then went to work out with the two CDRs. We took our time and I got some elliptical, weight lifting and some pushups and situps in before hitting the bike to cool down. Then we went back to our rooms and I showered and got dressed and went into the office to start checking out.

I tried to turn in my computer before lunch, but they were too busy. So I went to the PX with the other CDR and then went back to the office to get my boss. I did get my fitrep before lunch and it was a good one again, my CDR debriefed me. Then we headed to a late lunch at the DFAC and then went to the post office so they could mail stuff out. We took some pictures on the way back, including this one of an engineering unit out of the UP.

Then I went back to the office and spent the afternoon finishing my checkout worksheet and turning in my computer. I then had a meeting with the commanding Colonel and after that I finished the rest of my checkout with safety, IT, logistics, and admin. I also met with the deputy colonel and talked with him for a while. We then headed to dinner, which was a light one, since we had eaten lunch later.

We sat with the colonels and some other GRC folks and it was short and sweet, because we had to get back for our farewell. So we got back and got our stuff together for our farewell. My CDR was farewelled first and I said a few words at the end of her turn. Then I was up and I got a coin, a coffee mug, and my Iraqi Campaign medal. My other award is still in process, hopefully I will get it soon after I get back. I then got a chance to speak my mind as well. And then that was it, our checkout was complete.

We have an early flight out in the morning, so I called Shelly after the farewell was over and then went back to my room to start my laundry. While I was doing my laundry I chatted with Shelly on Skype and then said goodnight. I finished my laundry and now it’s time to pack for my trip out in the morning. It’s getting very close now and I can say that I am very excited! Need to try to get a little sleep now…

Deployment - Day 199

2008-11-25T11:49:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Nine - Wednesday, 12 NOV 2008 – Last Day in the IZ
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq – IZ/Victory

Day One Hundred Ninety Nine was my last day in the International Zone and it was a beautiful day. I woke up when the cleaning lady knocked on my door, but I went back to sleep for another few hours. I got up and showered and got dressed around lunch time. I made sure all of my stuff was packed and then went into the office.

I checked my emails and took care of a few little things and then went to a late lunch with the guys one last time. After lunch, I checked my emails one last time and then shut down my computer and packed it up and said my goodbyes. I then went to my old work place and said goodbye to everybody there, although my old boss wasn’t in. Then I went and turned my ID badge in and then headed back to my room.

I gathered up all of my stuff and started taking the bags and my body armor piece by piece to the CDR’s office in the headquarters building and then I went and turned in my key to my trailer. I then hung out in his office until it was time to move all of our stuff to the curb. We waited for our movement there.

A couple of the guys from our Friday dinners came and saw us off. It was great to see them to say goodbye. Then we got in our vehicle and then headed on out. We were delayed for a little bit before we left due to another convoy getting hit on the route we were taking to get to our destination.

We made it though without any incidents, but it doesn’t make you feel any better about traveling on a route that still had recent action on it. We just had to travel a little bit of the route on the other side of the highway. We arrived and offloaded our stuff and checked into our rooms. We then went into the office to find a vehicle, which we managed to do. We also found our other bags that were sent ahead yesterday.

Here's another picture of some vehicles we use to get around over here...

We then went to the PX where I bought a little gift and a new pair of comfortable khakis to wear on the flight back home. Then we went to dinner at the DFAC and then drove back to the compound again. I dropped my purchases at my room and then went and got on the computer and talked to Shelly on the phone before heading back to my room for the night.

When I got to my room I unpacked a few things and then set up my computer and chatted with Bob on IM and Shelly on Skype a couple of times. I watched part of Batman Begins and some Family Guy before watching Seinfeld and then going to bed… Tomorrow will be the day I find out our flight info to leave Iraq and finish the actual turnover of my job… I am so looking forward to leaving here…

Deployment - Day 198

2008-11-25T11:44:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Eight - Tuesday, 11 NOV 2008 – Veteran’s Day
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Eight was a nice quiet day off and it was a nice change and I wrapped up all of my loose ends, now all that remains for tomorrow is to say goodbye. I got up pretty early and met up with the two CDRs traveling with me and we brought a few of our bags for the movement guys to take over for us to our first stop on our trip home. They gave us a hard time about the bags, but they took half of them.

So we took the rest of the bags back to the one CDRs office to take later today. I went back to my room and slept a few more hours and then got up in time to shower and get dressed and head to a late lunch. I ran into my Navy buddy on the way to lunch and I went to the office first, since I had brought my computer in so he could copy some movies.

I am not sure if I took any pictures and posted them of any of the vehicles, so here are the first of a few to come...

I went and grabbed my lunch to go while he downloaded some movies. I ate lunch in the office and then went up to talk to the movement guys to make sure that our other bags were still good to go. They were and I talked to the team leader and then went up to my other office and tried copying my files to a CD, but the CD drive wasn’t working, so I just copied everything to the share drive instead.

I then went down and grabbed our bags and put them out for the movement. I ran into both CDRs while doing this, so I hung out with them for a little while, but went back to my room up until dinner time. I watched a little Family Guy and then went back to my office for a couple hours before dinner. I talked to my brother for a little bit on the phone before going to dinner, he was getting ready for a few exams during the next couple of days. I was hoping some of the guys would come in, but they didn’t. So I went to dinner by myself and grabbed my dinner to go and ate it in my room.

I talked to Bob for a little bit on IM and also talked to Shelly on Skype for the last time. I won’t be able to use my webcam again until I get home, and then I won’t need it! I watched a movie and a little more Family Guy before heading to bed…

Deployment - Day 197

2008-11-25T11:41:00.002-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Seven - Monday, 10 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Seven was my last full day of work and my last farewell from my new command, although I will be here a couple more days. I got up and got dressed and went into work a little later than usual. I wrapped up a few small issues at work and caught up with my emails and finished up copying my files for turnover.

We then had a change of charge ceremony to transfer the OIC job from the old OIC to the new one. After this we got some gifts and then we ate some subway for lunch.

After this I went back to my room and picked up my laundry on the way. After this I took a short nap and then headed over to my old office. I ran into a CDR that I knew from back in Port Hueneme, he is only a couple weeks behind me on his return trip home. I then made it to my old office and met with the LTC about the MOU plan for Friday’s meeting.

After this I went through my desk and threw out a bunch of papers and kept some to put into my continuity or turnover binder. I also caught up on my emails there before heading back to my regular office. After I got there and dropped off my binder, I walked over to do a termination meeting with our contractor and our customer. It ended up being just us and our customer. This will get resolved after I leave here, so my job as far as this project is over now.

After this we walked back to the office and I made sure we had our ride situated and our rooms locked on for our trip out of here. Our rooms are good to go, but our ride won’t be able to take all of our bags, so we have to meet up a few times tomorrow to ship some bags out a few at a time. What a pain.

After this was straightened out, we went to dinner and then after dinner I headed back to my room and watched a little Family Guy and talked to Shelly before heading to sleep for the night… Gotta get up early to get my bags shipped out…

Deployment - Day 196

2008-11-25T11:37:00.002-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Six - Sunday, 09 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Six was a slow day again, for the most part. I got up a little later than usual and showered and got dressed and then headed into the office. I spent the morning catching up on emails and wrapping up a few small issues in the office.

Before lunch, the two CDRs and I headed up to finance to cash a few checks for some spending cash and then the one CDR and I headed to meet up with a different CDR that we both arrived with to go do some shopping and hit up the post office. So I went back to my room and grabbed my last two boxes and loaded them up into the truck and we were off.

We went to the Al Rasheed Hotel first, it was a pretty nice hotel. The CDR bought a couple of things, she is a shopper. And then we headed over to the pizza place for some lunch, it was good as always. After this we went to a rug shop and they spent a good amount of time picking out rugs, I headed over to the DVD shop and bought all the episodes of Family Guy.

We then headed to the post office, which was quite busy, but eventually we got our stuff searched and packed up again and then it was sent off. Then we went back to the compound and I dropped some of the leftover pizza and the DVDs in my room and then went and grabbed a Green Beans coffee. I ran into my old boss there and we chatted for a bit as we walked back across the street.

I went back to my new office and dropped some more leftovers off and then went and talked to the movement guys and got the other CDR added to our movement, had him add a few bags to our trip and changed our pickup location. Hopefully they will get this all straight before we leave.
Then I went back to my office and went and talked to the actual project engineer for my barracks project and tried to get him back up to speed on what he missed. Then I went back down to my office and spent some time trying to figure out this college football helmet spreadsheet thing that my replacement sent me. I figured out most of them, but I had to stop to go to dinner before it closed. I finished it up after dinner and then headed over to watch the Packers/Vikings game with some of the Air Force officers I know.

Unfortunately, the Packers offense was terrible and the run defense was the same, the pass defense was great and so that kept the Packers in the game, but they lost by one when the kicker missed the field goal wide right at the end of the game…

So I went back to my room and talked to Shelly and said goodnight, she was busy working on painting in the bathroom. I then tried calling my brother with no luck and then talked to my dad for a few minutes. I think he is still pretty sad about Lucy, but that’s something only time will heal… So then I watched a little Family Guy and then decided to call it a night, it was pretty late by the time I finally fell asleep…

Deployment - Day 195

2008-11-25T11:34:00.001-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Five - Saturday, 08 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Five was a slow day and I guess I needed it, because I was pretty tired and beat down. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a breakfast bar before heading into the office. This morning in the office was pretty slow, especially since my boss has turned over to my replacement. So I guess I am now kind of on cruise control as well.

I spent some of the morning putting together a turnover binder from my previous job so I can turn over these issues to somebody at the HQ office. I don’t think anybody will read it, but I will put something together just the same. So I took this morning pretty easy and caught up on my emails and the news and then headed to an early lunch.

We ended up having a fairly sizeable crew for lunch, it just grew exponentially. One of the CDRs I arrived with was back in town to complete his checkout. I walked with him for a while after lunch and discussed with arranging him billeting and a ride over to the base I have to check out from and fly out of. And then I headed back to my room and decided to pack up a couple more boxes to send back in the mail.

After this I went back to my office and then shortly after I headed over to the base camp for my project site to watch the concrete batch plant produce its first mix.

I walked over with my QA to witness this and then we rode over to the contractor’s office to have our meeting. After this meeting we walked back to the office and I found an email saying this contract is terminated. At least it will be when the official paperwork processes. I spent a little more time on my binder, but I really didn’t feel that motivated tonight.

We spent some time messing around on the internet with some soundboards and then heading to a late dinner. I then headed back to my room and talked on the phone with Shelly for a little while and also talked to my sister and then my mom. After this I watched a little college football and then tried calling Shelly to say goodnight, but I think she has her hands full watching Ayden, Fletch’s little boy, while he worked on the house… So now it’s time to wrap up another day in Baghdad…

Deployment - Day 194

2008-11-25T11:28:00.004-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Four - Friday, 07 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Four was a nice relaxing day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I got up a little earlier than usual for a Friday and I showered and got dressed and headed over to the bazaar that is held on this compound on Fridays and met up with my CDR. She bought a few things here and then I went over to the office and picked up a vehicle.

I drove it back over to the compound and we loaded up the vehicle with some boxes to ship home from the post office. We stopped at the PX on the way over to the post office. The CDR bought something and then we headed over to the part of the base with the post office and looked for some more shops. But they were all closed, so we got some lunch at the restaurant there and shared a pizza and some hummus with the Iraqi bread. It was all very good.

We then went to the post office and mailed out our stuff and then headed towards the hotel to check out the shops there, but they were closed as well. So we headed back to our compound and dropped the vehicle off and went back to the bazaar, this time I bought some things to send home. I grabbed a coffee from Green Beans on the way back to my room to drop my things off.

Here's a random picture of my boss and one of the supervisory engineers... She is giving him a nice little wooden car in appreciation of his efforts and they are posing nice too...

I then went back to the office and did a little work for a couple hours before heading to dinner with the normal dinner crew. It was a little smaller group than usual and the DFAC didn’t have any seafood tonight, so I had to settle for steak, which sucked. Can’t wait to grill out again at home.

After this we went back to our compound where I grabbed my computer from my room and then we set up the projector and watched Charlie Wilson’s War, which is a great movie. After this I headed back to my room and talked to Shelly for awhile and chatted with Bob on IM too and then decided to call it an evening… It was a very relaxing day and I sure did need it…

Deployment - Day 193

2008-11-25T11:24:00.002-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Three - Thursday, 06 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq - IZ

Day One Hundred Ninety Three was a slower day, but I managed to get caught up on just about everything for the first time in a long time. I woke up and showered and got dressed and ate a breakfast bar before heading over to Green Beans for some coffee. After this I headed over to my office and started the workday. I spent the morning finishing up my MOU brief before lunch and catching up on my emails. It was pretty quiet in the office most of the day. I also briefed my barracks project to the office leadership, which is still suspended, so there wasn’t much of an update. Here's another picture from our site visit of the school bathroom building.

So after this I went to lunch with my Navy buddy and we were joined by the two CDRs and our resident engineer. After lunch I started writing up my three site visit reports from our visits yesterday. This took me quite a while to finish and save everything in the right place and sending them to the right people. I also headed back to my room in the middle of the afternoon for a quick break.

I finally finished up the site visit reports pretty late in the evening, and had a break for a conference call for my barracks project. We ended up going to a late dinner, which my Navy buddy and I were joined by my replacement. It was a pretty slow day, but I was pretty steadily busy the whole time. At the end of the evening, we just spent some extra time bullshitting and relaxing and I picked up a couple of movies before heading back to my room for the night.

When I got back to my room I talked with Shelly on the phone for a while and then threw in a movie and fell asleep for a while after drinking my NA beer. I woke up and called Shelly to say goodnight and then called it a night…

Deployment - Day 192

2008-11-25T11:19:00.002-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety Two - Wednesday, 05 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Ninety Two was a busy and long day once again, and I managed to get out and about and see some things. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a breakfast bar before heading into the office. I caught up on my emails and then it was time to round up the CDR and one of our Iraqi counterparts and get geared up and head out on some site visits.

We hit three different projects including a water network, a school, and a sewer network. We had a chance to talk to some locals about their water supply from the new water network and also talked to some workers at the school and the sewer network. We also got to do a little “hearts and minds” by handing out some toys to local neighborhood children. I took some pictures and must thank Intrado once again for the nice toys they sent. The children loved them.

Our trip was fairly uneventful, but it took all morning. When we got back it was time for lunch. So I headed to lunch and got my food to go and headed back to my room, where I ate my lunch. I then went to pick up my laundry. After this I went back to the office where we conducted interviews most of the afternoon for a new office assistant.

In between the interviews I caught up on some emails and worked on some tasks thrown my way since all the other military were out in my little office. As it got closer to dinner time, one of the guys came in to turn over his vehicle, but he told me had a little accident, which was nothing serious, but it took me time to go and look and help him fill out the report.

My Navy buddy and the rest of the guys got back shortly before dinner, so we headed to dinner a little earlier than usual with our two CDRs and after this I returned to the office. I worked on wrapping up some modifications and looked at some invoices. I called my dad to see how he was doing after putting down Lucy. He was doing as good as can be expected and I know that everybody is still sad, but the hardest part is over.

After this I headed back to my room pretty late and called and talked to Shelly for a little bit before I threw in a movie and then went to sleep… I am still having trouble getting to sleep at a reasonable hour, and imagine that will continue as long as I am here…

Today is the day!

2008-11-19T12:04:00.003-05:00

Jackson just got confirmed on an earlier flight - so he'll be home during daylight hours and will be able to see the sign I made in the front yard for him! Will post pictures soon - but he will be home in a few hours everyone! So excited! Ok bye...

Stuff

2008-11-16T07:54:00.002-05:00

Jackson is out of Iraq and coming home SOON! We're very excited and anxiously awaiting his arrival! Dixie and I have been working on a little crafty project for him and should finish it up today. Have to go back to the tiny craft store and get a few more little things for his arrival that I just plain forgot yesterday - pregnancy brain.

I can't help but feel a little bad for Jackson though and I apologize to him everytime we speak - he isn't coming home to a very nice place. We're still living in a major construction zone and ran into a problem that set us back on finishing our bedroom... so he'll join Dixie and I sleeping on the futon in the living room. :-(

Went to the doc on Friday and all is well! All the stats and measurements are right smack where they should be, except I've gained about 5 lbs too much at this point. Eh, it so could be worse - especially with the two months I spent in Chicago enjoying all the food there and stuff! But I weigh 176.4 so I've gained 28 lbs and this is the heaviest I've ever been. Craziness - and especially since the last 8 weeks will be the biggest gain! Yikes!

Baby girl is quite the little dancer too - she rolls and kicks and its just super cool. Sometimes I'll be sitting on the couch looking at my completely lop-sided belly and can watch her shift to the other side. Jackson will certainly enjoy the show, Dixie doesn't seem to notice too much...

Ok, time to make some breakfast! We'll have some more exciting posts for you next weekend for sure!

:-) ~Shelly

Posting delays...

2008-11-14T07:41:00.004-05:00

Jackson has had horrible internet connections the last few days, its made it difficult to talk on the phone and there certainly hasn't been strong enough connections for him to post blogs. So no worries everyone, he is fine - he is very happy counting down his time left over there and I'll keep you updated! :-)

Deployment - Day 191

2008-11-11T12:21:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety One - Tuesday, 04 NOV 2008 – Election Day
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Ninety One was a busy day once again, but it was quiet for election day, but a bit of sad news because my parents dog Lucy was put down yesterday. I got up and showered and got dressed and headed to Green Beans for a muffin and some coffee. I then headed into the office.

I caught up with my emails and the news. I also got some more information on my trip out of here by contacting a Navy guy in charge of that. Looks like I am good to go to get out of Iraq on schedule. I also spent some time this morning developing an invoice tracking spreadsheet. I also planned some routes for our movement for some site visits coming up. I also briefed our movement team on where we are going and what we wanted to look at.

Here's another picture from our little trip... Some of the contractors working down in a water filled excavation...

I went to lunch with my Navy buddy and then the rest of the military left the office for an orientation training for the next few days. I spent a lot of my time in the afternoon dispatching vehicles and handling all the random little tasks that the CDR and the resident engineer came up with in their absence.

Shelly called me in the early afternoon to tell me about Lucy. It made me very sad, even though I know she isn’t suffering anymore. She was such a good dog, and she was very well loved and cared for. That doesn’t make it any easier though.

I spent the afternoon updating a presentation for the MOU. I also had my contractor come in and we resolved a few issues about laying a pipe in a trench that will help later on if the project is restarted and we also worked towards getting there security plan approved for their mancamp.

I also spent some time listening in on a hail and farewell for some of my coworkers. After this I went back to my office and wrapped up a few things. I then went to the PX with my CDR. I looked for some tourist type stuff to buy for gifts, but they didn’t have anything. I will have to try a few different places to find what I am looking for.

So after this we returned to the office. I went to a late dinner shortly after and then went back to the office where I called my mom and dad to see how they are doing. I got a hold of my mom, who stayed home for the day, but my dad was in a meeting. So I talked to Shelly for a little bit before heading to my room.

I spent the evening repacking my bags so I could turn in all my gear in short order. After this I watched a movie on TV and talked with Shelly on Skype for a couple of hours before falling asleep. The election is not far enough along yet to make any predictions, but I will check first thing in the morning...

Deployment - Day 190

2008-11-10T13:50:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Ninety - Monday, 03 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Ninety was a much more relaxed day than yesterday. I got up and showered and got dressed and headed to my morning meeting. After the meeting, I walked back to my room and picked up my dirty laundry and dropped it off. I then grabbed a coffee and a blueberry muffin and then headed into the office.

I caught up with my emails and spent the morning writing up a new brief for the MOU that included the whole MOU, word for word. I also spent some time researching some project sites that I plan on visiting in the next few days. So this took me up to lunch.

After lunch, I headed back to my room and packed up a few things that I want to mail back to my house. After this, I headed back to my other office and caught up on my emails and helped a new guy in that office understand my master spreadsheet. I think he will be the new keeper of the spreadsheet.

After this I headed back to the RO and helped my contractor put an invoice into our system so he could get paid. I worked with my resident engineer on this, and it took us a while to figure it out.

After this I continued with my presentation and my project research. Here's a picture of the guard house for the school project...I also worked on some various other little things and followed up on some emails. This took me up to a late dinner, which I went to with my fellow JOs and met up with my replacement in the DFAC. After dinner, I went back to the office for a little bit before calling it a night.

I talked to my dad on the phone, he said that Lucy is not doing good and that he might have to put her down, so that wasn’t good. I also talked to my mom and grandma briefly, they were just getting back from visiting my sister in California, sounds like they had fun.

I called Shelly on webcam and then on the phone before calling it a night… I did have a hard time falling asleep though, so I will find myself tired and short of sleep in the morning…

Updated photos!

2008-11-10T12:25:00.002-05:00

I've updated photos on www.kodakgallery.com/shelly with home improvement shots, belly profile shots, and recently added Tampa trip, dad and mom visits too....

Halloween Island Style

2008-11-10T12:10:00.003-05:00

Hee hee... thanks to my daddy-o for the fun, easy and creative Halloween fun - our "pumpkin" coconuts were a huge hit with everyone who saw them, and our house lights brought us more than the two trick-or-treaters we had last year! How fun!

Tampa Trip Oct 27-31st

2008-11-10T11:30:00.008-05:00

I'm super behind on life, I know. I'm sorry. Here are some fun photos from my work trip to Tampa at the end of October... it was a week jam-packed with long days but so good and productive (both personally and professionally), I miss my friends! I'm so incredibly thankful that I was able to go on this trip!

Rob (drinking dessert), Michelle and Judie:

Crazy toasting fun (we miss you Mark Carico) at the Region 9 dinner I crashed:

Bill & Jen posing with "the belly":

I love this pic, great face Jen - what was Bill doing/saying? ha ha

Check the pictures link to the right for more from Tampa...

Deployment - Day 189

2008-11-09T17:01:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Nine - Sunday, 02 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Nine was a busy day and I spent most of it out of the office. I got up and showered and got dressed, including my body armor and headed into the office. I ate a popcorn ball when I got there. I quick checked my email and then grabbed my replacement and headed out to check on our movement. It was delayed by a half hour, so we went to get our other member who was travelling. We ran into him about two seconds later. We all waited around in a bunker until it was time to go.

Here's another random picture, it's the contractor and government team for my barracks project...

Our trip was uneventful. When we got there we dropped our gear and then I checked with the Colonel’s secretary and made sure we were good to go for my brief after lunch. I set up the room, ran through my brief one time and then we headed to lunch. We got a ride there from some guys my replacement made friends with. It was good food, but I didn’t eat much.

So after this we headed back and I made sure everything was good to go for my brief. And then it was time. The Colonel wasn’t happy about something that didn’t make the final cut in the MOU, but after that was out, everything went pretty smoothly. The Colonel wants another meeting held in the next week, but other than that, should be pretty painless. So after this, I checked on getting some supplies to take back with us. There was a huge pile, but we got them staged.

Then we went to the PX, there was a lot of people there, but I bought a few things there. We hung out there for a while and then headed back to catch our ride back. Our ride said there was no room for our supplies and that my replacement wasn’t on the manifest. I managed to get him on, but not the supplies. Oh well. Our trip back was also uneventful, which was good.

So we got back to our office and I took off my body armor and caught up with some emails. I was pretty exhausted at this point, so we went to dinner pretty early. It was karaoke night again, so we hung out a little longer to watch a few people make fools of themselves. I then caught up with everything and then left the office just in time to watch the Packers/Titans game.

It was pretty exciting, a good defensive matchup. Unfortunately, the Titans remained undefeated as the Packers lost in overtime. I talked to Shelly on webcam during halftime and chatted with my brother on IM after the game and then decided to go to sleep…

Deployment - Day 188

2008-11-08T12:58:00.001-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Eight - Saturday, 01 NOV 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Eight was a slower day, but I got enough accomplished and prepared for my brief tomorrow. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a pop tart before heading to my morning meeting. We discussed the clarification of the suspension letter and I got some more questions regarding the letter, which I chased down some answers later on in the morning.
So after the meeting I headed into the office. I ran into my Navy buddy who was waiting outside for the Colonel to get here, so I chatted with him for awhile before we headed into the office. I spent most of the morning running down the answers for my contractor and catching up on my emails. So this took me pretty much up to lunch time, it was a pretty slow morning in the office. A lot of people were out and about.

So we went to lunch a little earlier than usual and then after lunch I picked up my Iraqi engineer and took him up to my other office and I got the information and reports on a few projects and then took him to the RO to introduce him to the folks there and try to set him up with a job. It looks promising but we’ll see. I then tasked him with some projects for my other command before escorting him to the gate.

I then went back to my room for a little bit before going to get my haircut. After this I went back to the office and started printing everything out for my brief tomorrow and saving everything onto my thumbdrive. I then went through the brief a few times in my head. I also wrapped up a few outstanding issues that I still had pending. I still have one more project I am trying to wrap up, but for today my brief has priority.

I went up to my other office to check my emails and I found that I had a package from Benny and Michelle, who are some good friends we had in Port Hueneme, who are now in Japan. I got a cool gorilla mask for Halloween and some jelly beans and a few cool little toys and a nice postcard. Thanks guys!

I then went back down to my office and wrapped up a few more things and then went to a late dinner and took it to go and ate in my office. As it was a slow evening, I messed around a bit on my computer and then decided to call it a night. So I headed back to my room where I ran through my presentation a couple of times out loud and made some notes on my presentation.

I called Shelly to say goodnight and then I headed to bed a little earlier than usual, got a big day tomorrow, but will be glad when it’s over…

Deployment - Day 187

2008-11-07T14:54:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Seven - Friday, 31 OCT 2008 - Halloween
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Seven was a nice slow day, but I did get my presentation done for Sunday and sent it to the Colonel to review. I got up fairly late, almost noon again, but I woke up with a headache. I woke up and finished watching the movie I started the night before and then I showered and got dressed and headed into the office.

I made it to the DFAC just before it closed and ran into my Navy buddy as I was walking in, so we sat down and ate lunch. Then I went to the office, where I spent the afternoon ironing out my presentation and the info paper. By the end of the afternoon I had finished both and had them both sent out for review before heading to dinner.

I met up with one of the guys who is going to present with me to the Colonel in a couple days and let him know when our movement was leaving and then I went and met up with the rest of the guys to go to dinner at the other DFAC. We had a big crew tonight since some of our replacements are here, we needed two vehicles.

Then we went and had a nice, long, relaxing dinner and then headed back to the office. Here's a picture of me and the gang...After finishing up my presentation and sending it out to the Colonel for review, I went with my Navy buddy to a Halloween party that was going on. Some of the guys from dinner were there, and there were a few people in costumes. But it was a little chilly out, if you can imagine that here in Baghdad, so I headed back to my trailer.

I wanted to call Shelly from my computer, but had to wait a couple hours because my internet was down. So I talked with Shelly and chatted with Bob on IM briefly and watched some Simpsons Halloween specials on TV before falling asleep…

Deployment - Day 186

2008-11-06T15:23:00.004-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Six - Thursday, 30 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Six is the end of the week and I am ready for a little break. I got up and got dressed and ate a granola bar before heading to my morning meeting. Our morning meeting went a little longer than usual as we were discussing the work suspension. After this, I took my replacement to the job site and showed him around. Even though the work is suspended, there are a few little things still happening.

Then we walked back towards the office and stopped to get some coffee at Green Beans on the way back, I got enough for all the officers back at our office. Then I started into working on the invoice issue for this project, as well as chasing down an invoice discrepancy and modification of another project I was working on a couple of weeks ago. This took me all morning to sort out and I still didn’t have it all straight.

So we went to lunch in a big group, since all of our replacements have arrived. After lunch we had a staff meeting introducing all of the new people and putting out some new policies. After this we had a meeting with our contractor for our project, including our subcontractor to tell them that the suspension had nothing to do with their quality, since we were very impressed with it. It had to do with the SOFA between the USG and GOI.

So after this we had a phone conference with the government on the same project and also I worked a little more on the invoice after this. I also got my info paper done for my brief to the Colonel coming up later this weekend. I then sat in on another conference call for my project, this time with the contractor.

Then I took my replacement to the PX to pick up some things. Then I headed back to the office and got some dinner with all of the usual suspects. And then I wrapped up my invoice and wrapped up the other project issue after dinner with the other invoice and modification. It was getting late so I grabbed some movies and headed back to my room.

I chatted on IM with Michelle, a friend back in Rhinelander, and watched a couple of movies before falling asleep… I called Shelly during the second movie to say goodnight, she was just finishing up her conference in Tampa… Here's a picture of Bill, my father in law, who finished constructing our baby's new stroller/carseat combo, good job Wild Bill!Tomorrow is Halloween and the end of October!

Deployment - Day 185

2008-11-05T16:28:00.001-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Five - Wednesday, 29 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Five was a long day, but I got a lot accomplished and I helped move my replacement into his new room, so that’s awesome! I got up and showered and got dressed and headed into the office. I needed to grab some stuff before I went to my meeting, but since we suspended the project, the contractor showed up at our office. So we held the meeting there and tried to iron out some issues that the suspension caused.

So after this I went back to my office and caught up with my emails and the CDR came in and lightened my workload by switching one of my projects to the Army Captain, so I could work on my presentation to our colonel about the MOU. So I spent the morning writing my info paper and preparing my presentation for the meeting with the colonel and his staff. I spent the morning ironing out a time to brief him too.

So this took me all morning and I still hadn’t finished it. Then we went to a late lunch after I escorted one of our QAs back out to the gate. After lunch my Navy buddy and I jumped in a vehicle and headed to our other compound across the street to pick up our new CDR, who is also my replacement. It has been raining on and off all morning and afternoon.

So we got over there and parked the vehicle and I lugged a box of laptops over to some guys from our headquarters who were taking them back to another base. The new CDR arrived shortly after I got there and I had my buddy drive the vehicle around and we loaded up all of his stuff and headed back to our compound. Our sergeant had already secured a room for him, so we got him signed up and carried his bags up to his room and then headed back to the office.

We introduced him to the CDR in our office and then took him around to my other office and showed him around to a few places around there and then back across the street to our main headquarters and then we met up with one of his fellow officers that had just arrived as well. Then we grabbed some coffee from Green Beans and then headed to the office again.

I was supposed to go to a meeting, but some other meetings had pushed it back. So we ended up talking with the new CDR about CEC stuff for about an hour before I needed to print out my presentation and info paper and went to the meeting with our contracting person and the colonel about the MOU. We talked for awhile about my presentation and it looks like I am on the right path, I just need to finish it up.

So then I went to my other office and caught up with my boss and catch up with my email. I found an envelope in my office from Shelly, so I took it down to my other office and opened it up and found a coconut with my address on one side and the other side painted to look like a pumpkin, here’s a picture!

Made it just in time for Halloween! So after this we headed to dinner with the new CDR and two other CDRs, including the one I came through training with. After dinner I did a little more work before heading back to my room. I talked with Shelly on the phone and chatted with Bob online before watching Seinfeld and falling asleep…

Deployment - Day 184

2008-11-04T15:54:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Four - Tuesday, 28 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Four was the longest workday of the deployment. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a cookie. I then headed over to my morning meeting. Nothing too exciting going on at the job site, so I headed back to the office.

So I got back to my office and caught up on my email. It seems every morning I have a new task added to my workload and its always a project that nobody had worked on in 6 months and it needs to be closed out. It’s starting to get a little frustrating. But although it took me all day, I managed to finish one termination settlement from start to finish and managed to get the contractor to agree to a reasonable amount of money without having to meet with them.

But all the paperwork that it takes to get a project ready to closeout and deobligate the money is amazing. So it literally took me all day to finish this up. So I worked on this all morning and then went to a late lunch with my fellow officers. We were joined by the other CDR who came here to Iraq with me, he had his replacement with him too.

So after lunch I continued to work this issue. Every time I thought I was done, there was something more that I needed or some documents that needed a slight change. So I worked this all afternoon and into the evening, but I finally got it done before I went to a late dinner.

I was hoping to go back to my room at a reasonable hour, but the CDR wanted me to finalize an invoice before I left. I tried my best to figure it out, but my brain was fried. I stayed at work until about 2200 before calling it quits. Before this happened we got an email that suspended work on my one big project, so now I get to go talk to my contractor about that in the morning. Our customer wants to wait and see what happens with their base once the Iraqis sign the SOFA.

Here's a picture of some Mercedes Benz dump trucks, which I thought was interesting...

So I headed back to my room late and I never even made it to my other office today. Hope I didn’t miss anything too important. So I got back to my room and talked with my brother on the phone for a little bit and also called Shelly to say goodnight and then decided to call it a night and watched a little bit of TV… I hope tomorrow is a better day, but somehow I doubt that it will get any better… At least my replacement will make it here tomorrow…

Oh, Lucy!

2008-11-04T08:13:00.006-05:00

To end the suffering, sweet little Lucy has left us and joined the rest of the pups in doggy heaven - I'm thinking she's cruisin around on a pontoon boat with her ears flapping in the wind...

I told Dixie all about her Auntie Lucy last night before we went sleepy, and told Jackson this morning on our walk that his parents had to put the pup down last night. It's for the best, but it doesn't make it any less sad!

Some pics from my trip up over Labor Day weekend:

Deployment - Day 183

2008-11-03T15:15:00.003-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Three - Monday, 27 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Three was another busy day, but I did find out that my replacement is here in Iraq, which is very exciting news. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a cookie for breakfast and then headed to my morning meeting. After the meeting I walked back to my trailer and grabbed my dirty laundry and turned it in for cleaning on the way to my office.

When I got to my office I caught up with my emails and the latest news and then went and talked to the CDR about a project mod package she wanted me to work on. She also had two other things for me to work on today, including a revision of a letter I had generated yesterday. This revision took me most of the day to complete, since everybody I needed to talk to was in meetings.

I found out before lunch that my replacement flew into Baghdad last night, so that was pretty exciting news. The end is near! So then, I went to medical to do a follow up with the doctor I saw last week. I wasn’t there long, she just doubled the dosage of the medicine I am taking and sent me on my way.

So then I went back to the office and then I went to lunch with the guys a little earlier than usual, since I had a meeting with my contractor again with another USG organization to determine location and trenching for a new generator for our project. We met in the nicest compound I have been on and the nicest building I have been in here in Iraq. After the initial meeting, we walked around outside and took a look at the generator farm and got a good idea what we would need to do.

Then I walked back to the office and worked on my letter a little bit more before my next meeting. My next meeting was in my other office, so I went over there and checked my email and then met with the colonel about a briefing we were trying to prepare for and arrange for briefing another colonel on the MOU. I don’t know where I will find the time to get ready for this brief.

I took these pictures of some coins I was given as a going away present. I don't think that I shared these pictures with anybody yet... So here they are!

After this I headed back to the office, where I finished the revisions on the letter and sent it to the CDR to proofread and send out. I also generated a letter for the contracting officer to sign on our construction project and then sent it to the CDR to send up to them. After this, it was time for dinner, so me and the boys headed to the DFAC and had our usual slow relaxing dinner. And then back to the office for some more work, but I kind of lost my motivation for the day.

So I headed back to my trailer for the night and put on the TV and chatted with Bob and my brother a little and called Shelly and talked to her while she was in her hotel room in Tampa. She is there for a work conference all week. So after this I watched a little Seinfeld and then fell asleep… The medicine I take makes me very sleepy at night, so I only take it right before bed…

Deployment - Day 182

2008-11-02T13:46:00.002-05:00

Day One Hundred Eighty Two - Sunday, 26 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty Two was another busy day. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a cookie and then headed over to Green Beans to get some coffee. I then headed to my morning meeting at the project site. After this meeting, I went to the project site with my QA and walked around the site and took some pictures. It rained for a little while when we were on site, so we hung out in the QC guys trailer.

Then we walked back to the RO. The CDR came in while I was checking my emails and gave me two different memorandum for records (MFR) to write for two different projects, on top of my normal work. So I started working on that. It was pretty quiet in the morning since almost everybody but me was out on mission. It continued to rain on and off all morning and into the early afternoon.

I went to a late lunch and got it to go and grabbed some extra sandwiches and food for my two officer buddies who missed lunch because they were out on movement. I continued working on the MFRs, finishing one shortly after lunch and sending to the CDR. I also worked on another project fact sheet so it could be briefed to the general in the next couple of days.

I went over to get my flu shot for the year to the office across the street. Good thing I think I got rid of the sinus thing this morning, so now the flu shot can get me sick. I then headed back to the office where I finished up the other MFR and sent it to the Iraqi engineer to review with me tomorrow morning to determine if I got all the right information.

I also spent some time working on the implementation plan for the MOU before dinner. So after I did this for a while, it was time for dinner. Karaoke was just starting and it wasn’t too bad, but we still didn’t hang out too long in the DFAC when that’s going on. I went and checked my email one last time and then headed up to my other office, where I talked to my mom and dad and then called Shelly. I also caught up on my email and picked up a package from that office, that Shelly’s mom’s company sent me. They always send the coolest stuff! A special thanks out to Linda Adams and of course, my other mom!

So then I headed back to my room and talked to Shelly online for awhile. I watched a little NFL football on TV, but since the Packers don’t play this week, I just kept an eye on my fantasy football team. Now it’s time to call it a day, fell asleep watching the Giants/Steelers game…

Deployment - Day 181

2008-11-01T16:26:00.003-04:00

Day One Hundred Eighty One - Saturday, 25 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty One was a lot busier day than I thought it would be, maybe that’s because it poured some during the morning and almost all afternoon. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate some pop tarts before heading to my morning meeting.

After my morning meeting, I headed back to the RO for a little bit to catch up on my emails. I then headed back to meet with the contractor again about a trench they are running in coordination with the contractor for the Japanese embassy. After this meeting, I went to pick up my clean laundry and then took it back to my room. It started raining a little bit during this time, but not too hard yet. I managed to get back to my office at the RO before the floodgates let loose. I spent the morning finalizing some mod spreadsheets to send to contracting. I also had a meeting with the Resident Engineer (RE) about my project, since we are having some big issues upcoming.

After this, it was time for lunch. It had been raining pretty hard, so a lot of the streets were flooding out, but it was going to get worse before it gets better. I continued to work a few of these spreadsheets before I headed out to my ethics training across the street. I stopped by my room first and I took this picture of the street flooded going back to my room. I had to take a round a bout way to get back there. So the training lasted a little over an hour and was pretty dry.

Then I went back to my office where I actually sent a few of those spreadsheets to contracting and then I headed up to my last meeting of the day which was an implementation meeting for the MOU. I have to figure out the best way to brief and implement the MOU to my parent command on the other base. So that will occupy a lot of my time the next few days.

When I went up to the meeting I checked my emails there and found a package from my sister. She sent me a cute little shirt for the baby, some yogurt raisins, blueberries, salt water taffy, and some jelly beans. I tried some of everything, thanks little sis!

So I went back to the office and answered a few random emails on projects that weren’t mine, but I was trying to help out with anyways. I ended up giving some information, but it wasn’t enough, so I punted and sent the email to the responsible people. Our CDR returned this evening from her pass to Qatar, but I didn’t get a chance to catch up with her today, since she was busy catching up with her new RE. A lot can change here in a week.

So I went to dinner with my Navy buddy and we didn’t take too much time at dinner before returning to the office. I checked a few emails and then decided to head it in for the night. I called Shelly when I got back to my room, but didn’t talk for too long. I watched a little TV before calling her back on webcam and talking to her for a while, before deciding to go to sleep… Today was a lot busier than expected…

Deployment - Day 180

2008-10-31T16:17:00.002-04:00

Day One Hundred Eighty - Friday, 24 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Eighty was mostly a relaxing day, as I did sleep in quite a bit. It felt nice to sleep in, and sleep in I did, until almost noon. I woke up and got dressed and headed to the DFAC for lunch. I ended up running into my Navy buddy on my way into the DFAC, so we ate lunch there.

Then I went to the RO for a bit and caught up on emails. I am waiting on some info from some other people to get further on the things I am working on. And since most of them aren’t in today, I am kind of stuck. So I waited around for a while and got a few more things lined up to do and then went up to my other office.

Here's a picture I took of my Army coworker. you can see a picture of him on the wall behind him. What he doesn't realize yet is that his picture is on the dartboard on our wall!

I caught up on my emails there and talked to my Iraqi coworker up there and talked to the colonel on the phone about a meeting for the MOU to talk to my parent command about how that needs to be implemented. So I have a meeting tomorrow on that. Then I went back to the RO. It was getting close to dinner so I headed back to my room until dinner.

Our group for dinner tonight was pretty small, since a couple of the regulars are now gone and two others were out and about accomplishing other stuff. But the Navy CDR that I came here with was still in town and a couple of contractors he works with came with us to dinner.

After dinner, I headed back to my room where I watched Rocky Balboa and chatted with Bob. I also talked with Shelly real briefly a couple of times, she was pretty busy with work. I then watched Seinfeld and then decided to call it a night. I called Shelly and said goodnight and then went to sleep…

Deployment - Day 179

2008-10-30T17:40:00.003-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Nine - Thursday, 23 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Nine was another busy day and I am glad the week is over. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a cookie and then I headed to my morning meeting. After the meeting was over, I went out to the job site to see them place some concrete columns. They were already working on it and it was progressing slowly. Also, the second slab was just about ready to be placed, probably early next week.

I headed back to the RO after this and caught up on emails and then went up to my other office and did the same. I ran into one of my counterparts from the HQ office and we arranged to meet with my old boss after lunch. So then I went back down to the RO and ran into a CDR who was in town for a little bit and we went to an early lunch and caught up for a little bit. We arrived into Baghdad the same day and so we will be leaving the same date. So after lunch I went back to the RO and then headed up to my old office.

We were supposed to meet with my old boss, but instead he called me into a meeting with this inspection team that came to inspect our unit. There was a lot of military and a few civilian inspectors. They didn’t seem to know what was going on and had their preconceptions coming into it, which is never good.

So after this I headed back to the RO and got ready for a teleconference. Either nobody called in or I didn’t have the right number. So I worked on getting ready for my next meeting for the same project a little later, which would include the contractor. That meeting went as well as can be expected, we have some unresolved issues we are working on. And the main people who were working on it are still gone.

So after this I went back to my office for a little bit and then we decided to go to an early dinner. We had a nice, long relaxing meal and we bullshitted a bit. And then we went back to the office where I picked out a few movies to watch tonight. I then headed back to my room.

I watched most of the movie I had picked out, but I fell asleep. So I called Shelly to say goodnight, but she was pretty busy with work, so I didn’t get to talk with her very long. My nose has bothered me all day, hopefully the extra sleep I get tonight will help me get better. I may have to hit up the pharmacy for some Sudafed or something tomorrow…

Deployment - Day 178

2008-10-29T15:10:00.002-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Eight - Wednesday, 22 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Eight was about the same as the day before, slow but steady. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a muffin before walking to my morning meeting. Here's another picture of some progress on the site, you can see some T walls in the background...After the meeting wrapped up, I walked back to my room and grabbed my dirty laundry and turned it in for cleaning.

I then headed over to the RO, where I caught up on my email before heading to my office upstairs, where I had an after action review from the whole MOU process. This lasted through lunch, which we ate some Iraqi food in the conference room towards the end of the meeting. I think I may pull out of these meetings, since I will be unable to see the finish with the Governor of Baghdad, which is the next step.

So after this meeting, I went and checked my email in my old office. The colonel caught me there and asked me to get him a spreadsheet with some project info on it. So I took about an hour and developed that and then escaped while I could to the RO.

I finally finished up my spreadsheet for the hospital mod and sent it to the deputy resident engineer for review. Hopefully it can be sent up to the project manager and contracting officer for completion tomorrow. I then reviewed some emails for a termination settlement that we need to have soon. I think it’s almost enough information, just need a little more.

So after this, I messed around on my computer for a while and then it was time for dinner. My fellow JOs and I headed to dinner, where I said goodbye to a couple of Navy guys who are leaving first thing in the morning. They are redeploying back to the states, guess I will not be too far behind.

Then we went back to the office for about a half an hour and I played around on the computer, not really accomplishing any work. Then I headed back to my room. I talked to Shelly on webcam for a while and chatted very briefly with Bob online. I watched Young Guns 2 and Seinfeld and then tried calling Shelly again, but couldn’t get a hold of her. So I decided to call it a night. Having a little trouble falling asleep again and think I may have the beginnings of a sinus infection…

Deployment - Day 177

2008-10-28T15:52:00.001-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Seven - Tuesday, 21 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Seven was a slower day, so that was good. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a pop tart for breakfast. I then called my Army coworker to see if he wanted to go to my morning meeting. He did, so we met at the Green Beans coffee place. I bought us a couple of coffees while waiting. We then walked over to the meeting and got caught up on project issues.

We then walked onto the project site and checked out the progress of the new slab being formed up for another building, as well as the columns for the first building being formed up. They also were working on the sewer lines going into the second building. We then walked back to our office.

I spent the rest of the morning catching up on emails and getting ready for the party for our resident engineer, who was leaving soon. I also ran up to the other office real quick and checked the email and forwarded any important messages to my other email account. I then went back to the RO.

We had the pizza party shortly after for the resident engineer. We all pitched in for the food and his gift. There was plenty of pizza and we also had some Iraqi desert, which was good. We had the usual speeches and pictures too.

Then back to the grind. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sort out project issues on my one project, including some badging issues for the contractor. I also spent some time working on my hospital modification spreadsheet. By the end of the day I was almost ready to have it reviewed. Just a little more work tomorrow and it will be ready.

We ended up walking over to another DFAC with a bunch of our friends for gyros, but they wouldn’t let one of us in because he was in PT gear, so we headed back to the usual DFAC. I needed a good walk anyways. So then we ate dinner at our usual DFAC. I headed into the office again real briefly and then decided to head back to my trailer.

I watched Young Guns in my room and chatted with Bob and my brother. I also called and talked to Shelly on the phone and also on webcam before calling it a night and drifting off to sleep… I am falling asleep later at night again… I need to try to get to sleep a little earlier each night…

Deployment - Day 176

2008-10-27T15:12:00.003-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Six - Monday, 20 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Six was a big day, even though it wasn’t too busy. We finally got our MOU signed by the Mayor of Baghdad, two generals, an admiral, and a SES (equivalent to a flag officer). So I got up and showered and got dressed and then headed to the DFAC for breakfast. I took my food to go and ate the little croissant and egg sandwich, some French toast and some fruit and cereal in my office.

I then headed over to my morning meeting. After this, my QA and I headed over to the job site and took a look around. They are working away on columns for the first building and forming up the slab and putting in rebar for the second slab. Then I headed back to the office. I went to my other office upstairs and checked my email and had a cup of coffee. I also wanted to see if the MOU signing was happening. I also went down to finance and cashed a check, hopefully the money will last me until after I leave here.

It was still on, so I headed back to my room and grabbed my clean laundry on the way. I put all of the laundry away and then studied for a little bit and then I headed to the signing. It took a while for everything to come together, but the ceremony went off without a hitch and everybody signed. Here's a picture of our team, I couldn't find a way to put a picture from the event in here from the article that was written...

What a relief! Then everybody ate some really good Iraqi food. I felt pretty sleepy after this feast, but I went back to the RO after the event was over.

I continued to work on my mod spreadsheet, which I got a few calls and emails on. I guess the contract specialist and the project manager are anxious for this information. So I got this one a little further down the line, hopefully tomorrow I can finish it. This took the rest of the afternoon and evening.

So we went to dinner, which was crappy as usual. I then went back to my room where I chatted with Bob on IM. I also chatted with my brother briefly on IM, he was busy studying for his classes. I tried calling Shelly a few times, but no luck. When I was about asleep she called me on Skype and we chatted for a while. She sent me some pictures of the baby’s room, which looks great and now has the crib and dresser set up. It is very exciting!

But I was pretty sleepy at this point and decided to call it a night…

Deployment - Day 175

2008-10-26T15:16:00.002-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Five - Sunday, 19 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Five was about the same as the day before, busy in the morning and early afternoon and pretty quiet in the evening. I woke up and showered and got dressed and ate a pop tart and headed directly to my morning meeting. After my morning meeting I walked back to the RO.

When I checked my email, I saw that our resident engineer is leaving us very soon, which was very unexpected. So I caught up on the rest of the emails and then headed up to my other office, since I had a meeting for the MOU coming up. This meeting was only supposed to last a little while, but ended up going all the way through lunch. I actually had to leave the meeting to go and pick up my Iraqi engineer at our front gate. I had to push our normal meeting back from yesterday to today because of our luncheon.

So I tasked him with some new projects and then went back to the meeting. I missed lunch, so by this time I was pretty hungry. When the meeting finally ended, I ate some trail mix in my desk and then headed down to the RO. I received a package filled with about 100 cookies from Shelly’s coworker Caroline from Chicago. They were Halloween cookies and they were individually wrapped, I took some pictures…

They were very good and I shared them with my coworkers at the RO. I ate a few more than I should have right away, because I really never got a good lunch.

So I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening working on a modification spreadsheet for a hospital. This took me up until dinner, which I went to with my fellow officers from the office. They had karaoke in the DFAC, which was pretty terrible, but at least the singers were having fun. I went back to the office one last time, made sure my fantasy football lineup was set and then went back to my room.

I called my dad and my brother, they were both driving separately to the Packers-Colts game at Lambeau Field. We weren’t optimistic about the game, but hopeful they could pull out the win. I then talked to Shelly for a little bit and then decided to take a nap before the game. I woke up midway through the 4th quarter and the Packers were smoking the Colts. I woke up in time to see a Manning throw intercepted and returned for a 98 yd TD. And then they changed the game to a more competitive game.

So I called my brother to see how he enjoyed the game and then tried calling Shelly to say goodnight… And then I went back to sleep for the night…

Deployment - Day 174

2008-10-25T14:13:00.003-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Four - Saturday, 18 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Four was a pretty busy day up until mid afternoon, and then it was nice and slow. I got up and showered and got dressed and ate a pop tart and then headed into the RO. I caught up on my emails, grabbed my notebook and headed to my morning meeting.

After this long meeting, we agreed to meet a couple more times later in the day for the same barracks project. So I rode back to the office with my QA and caught up on some more things, including reviewing a couple powerpoint slides for some preconstruction meetings. I then went rode over to the next meeting for our barracks. This took a lot longer than needed because the Major was almost a half an hour late for our meeting, so we had to almost start over again when he arrived.

Then we drove over to the man camp for the contractor and looked at that for a while, but we didn’t meet the person we hoped to meet, so we were going to have to come back later again. Here's a picture of their area with the concrete batch plant...

So then it was back to the office again. I quick ran over to drop my laundry off and then headed to a luncheon for our Civil Affairs unit guys from Wisconsin. It was a good pizza party and they actually farewelled me to, so they gave me a couple of gifts. It was totally unexpected. But it was a nice surprise.

So after this I went to the hospital to check on my blood test results. Everything looked fine and I had some more blood drawn, everything was negative. A different doctor saw me and put me on some different meds for the next week and a half. I also was able to refill a couple of my other meds to last me the rest of deployment.

While I was in the hospital, it actually rained for about 20 minutes. I then went back to the RO for a while and caught up on things. Then I went up to my other office and caught up there and thanked my old boss for the gifts. Not too much going on up there, so back downstairs to my other office.

I was pretty busy most of the day and I lost motivation towards the end. I went and grabbed dinner when the other guys went to mass. I ate dinner in the office and I called and talked to my mom and sister and also tried calling my dad and brother, but I had to leave messages.

I then decided to call it a night and headed to my trailer. I tried watching Blazing Saddles, but fell asleep during the middle of it. I woke up in the middle of the night and talked to Shelly on Skype for a little while before falling asleep for the rest of the night…

Deployment - Day 173

2008-10-24T15:38:00.003-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Three - Friday, 17 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Three was a nice relaxing day, much more than a normal Friday, and I needed it. I fell asleep a little earlier last night than usual, and I slept in a couple more hours than usual, so that’s two decent nights of sleep that I have gotten now. Feels good. When I woke up, I finished watching the movie that I watched the night before.

I then studied my JPME course a little bit and then I took a shower. And then I studied a little more. I ended up watching an episode of Family Guy before getting dressed and heading to lunch. I got my lunch to go from the DFAC and then went into the RO. I spent the first couple of hours working on the powerpoint slides for the MOU, hopefully for the last time.

I sent the slides up to the colonel and then went to the office upstairs, where I spent the remainder of those couple hours helping my Iraqi colleague to arrange the slides on the Arabic version of the slides. The biggest challenge of this was that the Microsoft Office 2007 version of powerpoint is much less user friendly than its predecessor. I will just leave it at that.

So then I went back down to my other office. I found out today that two officers that I have worked with before in my last tour will become commanding officers of Seabee battalions. They are both really good and will do well, too bad I won’t be able to work for either of them during their tour.

Even though I didn't go out to the site today, I posted this picture of the next slab being worked on...

I really wasn’t that motivated today to accomplish too much more before dinner. I definitely do have days like that over here. So when dinner rolled around, I was ready, even though I wasn’t hungry. So we met up with the usual suspects and headed over to the other DFAC. For two of us, not me unfortunately, this will be the last Friday night dinner before heading home.

It was good and after we finished the meal, we headed back to our compound. I grabbed my computer out of my room and we went and watched a movie in the conference room, a little Bourne Supremacy. Then back to my room, where I called Shelly and watched another movie before going to sleep. I also was able to catch up a little with Bob on IM, before that went down again, that sucks…

So now it was time for sleep, but as always on Friday evening, had a tough time falling asleep, so I watched McCain on the Letterman show before falling asleep…

Deployment - Day 172

2008-10-23T14:46:00.004-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy Two - Thursday, 16 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy Two was a busy day, but it is the end of the workweek, so to speak. I got up and showered and got dressed and made it to the DFAC right before it closed. I got some fruit and some grits and a hardboiled egg and some cereal, but they only had chocolate milk. I only had time to eat my cereal before heading to my morning meeting.

So I walked over with the project manager and we had the meeting, it went a lot longer than usual because he had to get up to speed. I took this picture of a T wall full of styrofoam. I hope there aren't too many more of these out there...We then headed back to the office where I met up with my USACE counterpart for my old job and we went over some project updates for those projects, along with some new projects. We then went up to my old office to see if we could catch up with my old boss, but he was in a meeting.

So we headed back to the RO. I worked on the same spreadsheet for a project modification that I was working on yesterday for a little bit, but then it was time to go to a farewell with my CDR for two of our Navy friends that we hang out with on Friday nights. There was some pizza, so I ate there and hung out with them for a little while. I went back to the RO and finished up the leftover food from breakfast.

I then continued to work on the spreadsheet, however, I wasn’t feeling that motivated today. Our boss for our region, a colonel, came and visited our office today. And of course we had about ten minutes notice before he got there. Not surprising. As it got closer to dinner, I got a call from the colonel to update a powerpoint slideshow for our MOU that’s just about complete. I will be so glad when this is done.

Then it was time to go to dinner, so my fellow JO’s and I headed to dinner, which was more disappointing than usual. After dinner, I grabbed a couple movies from my office and headed back to my trailer. I talked to Shelly a little bit on the phone, she was shopping for baby stuff with her mother up in the Miami area. Her mother had flown in for the week, so they will be working on getting the baby’s room all set up, how exciting!

So I watched the Indiana Jones movie in my room and then tried to watch Seinfeld, but I was so sleepy and I fell asleep during Seinfeld. I woke up really early in the morning and talked to Shelly again as they were driving back down the Keys with the Tahoe filled with stuff for the baby. I can’t wait to see what they got! I also talked to Shelly’s mom, but I was still very sleepy, so I went back to sleep for the rest of the night…

Deployment - Day 171

2008-10-22T14:13:00.001-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy One - Wednesday, 15 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy One was another busy day in which I got some good work done, but it is definitely starting to wear me down. I got up and showered and ate a blueberry muffin and then headed right to my morning meeting at the project site. The CDR and my QA met me there. After this meeting we headed back to the office.

I worked on a project mod spreadsheet for a hospital for a while, until my Iraqi QA came in and wanted to work on a termination settlement for a railroad shops project. So I got all the information I needed from him and talked to the resident engineer to make sure we got everything we needed from him.

After this I went to my other office for a while to check on some emails and make sure there were no pending issues. After this I went back down to the RO and then went to lunch with my coworkers down there to the DFAC. After lunch I went back to my room and got some ibuprofen for my headache and then went back to the RO. I continued to work on my spreadsheet for the railroad shops project. Once I finished this up, I forwarded it on to the resident engineer for review.

This is a picture of the guard tower to the Believer's Palace, that was mostly bombed out during the invasion...

After this, my Navy coworker and the sergeant from my office went up to get our badges for the compound, which I haven’t needed until now, they are starting to get more restrictive on these things. So now that’s done, so we headed back to the office again. I was supposed to have a telecon with the CDR, but she was busy, so we missed that one.

I then went back to my spreadsheet mod for the hospital project, which took me pretty much the rest of the day, and I still hadn’t completed it. I hope to be able to complete it tomorrow.

We went to dinner a little earlier than usual. I think we are all getting tired. My Navy buddy went back to his room early, since he had been throwing up most of the day from some food he ate yesterday. But my Army coworker and I ate dinner and then I decided to go back to my room, since I had a long night the day before.

I got back to my room, watched a little Family Guy and then got on the webcam with Shelly. She was very busy with work, but I got to talk to her for a while eventually. I then threw in a movie and went to sleep, but I left the webcam on so Shelly could still watch me while she was working. I woke up in the middle of the night and turned off the light and went to sleep for real… Very exhausted…

Tropical Rain...

2008-10-22T08:51:00.007-04:00

Can't see the Key West label? It's because we are covered by the huge RED spot.

Dixie is so sad today. No morning walk. No playing outside. Scary, loud thunder and flashing of white coming into the house. It's not because of Halloween ghosts or avoiding the crazy Fantasy Fest partying people - it's the lovely tropical rain that woke us up early and hasn't stopped for hours now. No watering the plants! The pool absolutely has enough water... in fact, it will overflow soon! It sounds amazing on the roof, they're all metal out here - but man oh man does it make for a bit of a gloomy day. Since I still have to shower outside with renovations going on, I guess I can just stand in the rain... Oh - and its still pretty hot even through the rain! ;-)

Deployment - Day 170

2008-10-21T13:49:00.002-04:00

Day One Hundred Seventy - Tuesday, 14 OCT 2008
US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
Baghdad, Iraq

Day One Hundred Seventy was an extremely long day, I got up at the normal time, but I worked until 2130 (9:30 p.m. for you civilian folk). So I got up and showered and got dressed and headed into the RO. I ate some pop tarts once I got into the office.

I walked over to the morning meeting with CDR and after the meeting, we went over to the jobsite to check out the finished product from the concrete pour. After this, we walked back to the office again. I caught up on emails when I got back to the office and went to ask CDR some questions about what she wanted for one of the projects. Instead, she assigned me another project to write an information paper on. So I spent most of the morning researching and starting to develop a letter on a huge courthouse project that had already been completed.

This took me up until lunch time where we had a luncheon for a couple of Iraqi folks that were leaving the office, it was some good Iraqi food too.

Then I went back to my room, picking up my clean laundry on the way. I studied for a little bit and I took a short nap. Then I headed up to my old office to catch up on a few things. Then I went back down to the RO and continued to work on the letter.

We were having connectivity issues all afternoon and into the evening, so I went up to my old office and scanned in some invoice documents for the RO, since we need to continue to pay the contractors. Then I went back down to the RO and worked some more on the letter and then sent it to CDR, as it was getting closer to dinner and I had a meeting scheduled during my normal dinner time.

So I went to dinner at the DFAC and grabbed my food to go and went up to my old office and ate and caught up with my emails again. Then I went to my meeting, which lasted a half hour longer than expected, up until 2130. This was for our MOU, I hope we can wrap it up soonest, so we can finally be done with it.

After the meeting, I called and talked to Shelly, who is back to work after a long holiday weekend. I also talked to my sister, who is enjoying life working at her own clinic in Santa Barbara, where she is signing a lease on a place tomorrow. I also talked to my brother, who is flying out to Cleveland in the next couple of days to present some information on his undergrad research. So it looks like everybody is busy.

I then went back to my room and talked to Shelly on Skype and threw in a movie before falling asleep… As tired as I was, I continue to have a hard time falling asleep…