Saturday, 7 August 2010

So apparently, what I am going through is normal.. whatever that means.
Unfortunately, I thought that I would be lucky, and not have to deal
with this.. I thought "Not my kid" Boy was I kidding myself or what?
I have watched my friends go through this, and thought about how
grateful I was that I wasn't in their shoes.
Now, here I am, smack dab in the middle of the teenage rebellion stage.
I have heard it lasts until adulthood.. woohoo..
How come I wasn't told about this in the owner's manual?
Oh yea, that's because there is none!

So, I learn as I go and try to deal with it from afar. I am fortunate
that I have great family that are doing most of the hard work. Not so
fortunate, that I can't be there to help guide.

Anyhow, it has been a trying week for me.
Throughout it all I appreciate the support I have received from my
friends and family. It is so true that life goes on without you, and no matter
Where you are at. While we are deployed, life continues to go on without us
And things change, evolve, grow and even reek havoc sometimes.

As I stated before, I contemplated about posting something so personal,
when I know my audience does not just consist of my closest interpersonal
ring of Friends. BUT, this blog is about life deployed. This of all things, is
life deployed. Things happen we can't control. Things happen that we can do
absolutely nothing about, but sit anxiously and wait for the outcome. Or simply
have heated conversations from 7,000 miles away - which are never pleasant.

So, I am dealing with it, with the help of family and moving forward.
Onward as they say.

So there are some things that I have done that I, in my tired state,
have failed to mention. I completed the beginner's NKC Dari class. It's a simple 2 week course to teach you basic Dari language and Afghanistan culture. Very informative and nice, in
that we can have Very basic conversation with the Afghan Nationals that work on the base.

For the first time since I have been here I had a massage. It's not like Massage Envy,
But close enough and worth the $10.00 for 30 minutes of back/neck massage. They
Actually do a really decent job. They seem to also be more meticulous with the Eyebrow
Waxing, etc. I was very impressed. Massage and Waxing was $16.00 total. Not bad.
Can't get that in the states :)

I have received several care packages and an grateful to all those that
continue to send little things. Mail here really is like Christmas every day.
We are always wondering who is going to get what... Our office is great! We all
get junk food and snacks and basically keep a community drawer, which between the 7 of us,
has grown to 2 1/2 drawers. :) Its nice!

This week hasn't been near as busy with Casualties as we were last month
this time frame, which is always a blessing. I have a new Deputy and am therefore
working on data analysis And statistics from the database of casualties. It has been long and
tedious because the original trackers did not track near the information we needed for these
reports. So, we are having to back fill about 10,000 records, and then generate
reports, break them down by unit, then by MOS, and so on. Its been a long task, but work in
progress for me and the crew.

The summer is coming to a close for the kids. They will be flying home on Tuesday to get
Settled in and ready for the new school year. I bet they are excited for that.. LOL
My parents are getting settled in the house, after oh - finding out my house was infested with
Some creatures... RATS or RABBITs.. or something.. and they are safe harbored up somewhere between The first and second story of the house. The only way for the exterminator to get to them is to cut a hole in the kitchen ceiling and (1) repair the drywall from the water leaks in the upstairs and (2) figure out what has nested themselves in there and get rid of
them..I feel bad for My parents - they finally get moved in completely.. and now this.
Errgh.. it's always something Eh?

Beyond all of that, life is moving along.