Birthday Party # 2!
Topic: Iraq
Justin was pretty stingy with the pictures. And he said I cant put them on facebook. But he didnt say I cant put them on the blog and email them to everyone I know! LOL.
No pics of the cake but a good one of Sue's cookie!
Hopefully I can talk him or his SGT out of some more pics before long.
Our facebook conversation:
Justin: Thanks for the cake.. tasted like it had been across the world in a week, but that made it that much better!
Me: Hey, at least you could just eat the icing out of the can. I knew better than to put it on the cake!
Justin: Oh hell no mother! I put the Iceing on the cake! Told SGT Lide I felt gay that I was so excited bout putting iceing on a cake!
Thanks again to everyone that had a hand in it!!
Back
Topic: Iraq
Justin finally made it back to the base yesterday. He said it was a crazy birthday ... not only did he spend it in the air ... it only lasted 16 hours thanks to the time difference. Coming the other way he could've had a 32 hour birthday! LOL.
He's gotten lots of birthday cards from the folks back home (thanks to all of you who helped out!) and they are still rolling in.
So I guess today it was back to "life as usual" for him, and back to work.
Thanks again to everyone who made his time at home so much fun for him, and for sending the cards to try and keep his birthday from totally sucking. ;-)
* A couple of his facebook status' from yesterday:
Finally Made it back.... Thanks for all the Bday wishes!!! It was as well as it coulda been on an airplane! I ACTUALLY MISSED 8 whole hours of it flying through all the different time zones! WTF? Shortest Bday ever!
and
Thank to everyone back home again, prolly had the best two weeks outta the last 3 years of my life! miss yall... Bed time here in the sand box now.. ZZZzzz
Almost There .....
Topic: Iraq
Justin called about 4pm and said he was back in Kuwait. Now he has to get from Kuwait City to somewhere else, the to somewhere in Iraq, then to somewhere else in Iraq, then to his base. It's complicated, and involves buses, planes and helicopters.
Flying High
Just a little update on Justin …. And a BIG thank you to everyone for your support ……..
He had a tremendous two weeks at home …. saw a lot of people, had a lot of fun …. He said two weeks just isnt quite long enough ….
This morning we had a quick breakfast with my Mom and Dad then I took him to the BHM airport. He called and said he is now sitting in ATL (til 6pm) waiting for the flight to Germany. If we’d known it was gonna be such a long layover I probably would’ve just taken him to ATL this afternoon instead of to BHM this morning. Oh well … such is Army life!
The pics from this morning are pretty blurry as they are with my phone ….
Waiting ……
About to go into the ‘tunnel’ to board the plane …..
Yep – that’s him … getting on the plane …………..
And taxi’ing away ….. they went down the runway and got a running start and came back by, but I wasn’t quick enough to get a pic of them in the air ……. He got to ATL before I got home!
**UPDATE - He text'd me at 4:45pm Central time to say they were boarding the plane in ATL.
Happy Birthday / Going Away Party
Topic: R & R
Wednesday is Justin's birthday (25), but he has to leave out tomorrow going back to Iraq. Today is Lachelle's birthday (26). So, as we have done in quite a few past years, we celebrated together.
Twenty candles across the top .... plus six on the left for Lachelle .... plus five on the right for Justin.
The Halfway Point
So, he's been home seven days/nights. Four of the seven nights he's stayed here, and we've had at least a few moments each of those mornings to chat, hug, and say "have a good day" before he heads out the door.
We have eight more nights to go. I'm hoping for at least four of those as well. I get him through the week when his buddies are working.
He's having a good time. That's what it's all about. That's what R & R is for, right? :-)
Celebration
Topic: R & R
I left at 3am yesterday morning headed for ATL. Arrived 6am, walked into the airport and less than two minutes later Justin text'd and said they had just touched down, the plane was still rolling, and he had to go through customs. I told him where I was (Starbucks, North side) and said I'd wait there. I had a mocha, looked around the adjacent book store, walked a bit in the terminal (keeping the Starbucks in sight) and less than an hour later he tapped me on the shoulder as I was updating his friends on facebook.
We went and got in the car and were home by 10:30. Came by the house for him to get his car, went to Mom and Dad's for a little bit and then he went off to celebrate with his friends at their campsite / mudhole.
I'd say all in all, it was a mighty fine 4th of July day!
Sandstorm causes flight delay
Topic: Iraq
Justin made it out of Iraq, but is now waiting out a sandstorm in Kuwait. Supposed to have another briefing in a few hours. Hopefully he can fly out tomorrow. Everyone is ready to PARTY ... Justin most of all.
What They Do
Topic: Music, Video, etc
Here's a little video clip from Justin's unit. (He's not in it).
http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=video/video_show.php&id=89054
Seeing Orange
Topic: Iraq
Justin has told me several times that when they get a dust storm everything is orange. Today he got some pictures. I asked him if this was enhanced by sunrise or sunset and he said these pics were taken between 0930 and 1000 and sunrise is at 0415.
