Once in a Blue Moon!

Talk about firsts for the year 2009: first deployment, first time riding a camel, first time seeing a lunar halo (last night) and first time seeing a Blue Moon on New Year’s Eve…and it happened in Iraq. Doesn’t get any better than that!

When I was a kid, my dad built a telescope and we would look at the planets and moon. I remember seeing Saturn for the first time and being amazed and how perfectly I could see the rings. Ever since that time I have had a fascination with the night sky and the last couple of nights were ones I will never forget.

On 30 December I was walking back to my CHU when I noticed a Soldier staring up at the sky. Directly overhead was the moon surrounded by a ring of light. At first, I thought there must be some kind of glare coming from one of the generator lights but as I moved locations, it became apparent that this halo was indeed in the night sky. It was spectacular! I had never even heard of this phenomenon but I’m certainly glad I got to see it!

The following day, I was telling people about the halo around the moon when someone mentioned the moon would be a Blue Moon that evening. I’m not sure if this was in the news or not at home but when you are deployed, you are so sheltered from what is going on with the rest of the world. A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a month. This occurs once every 2.7 years and the last time it occurred on New Year’s Eve was in 1990. The next time it lands on New Year’s Eve, it will be in 2028. I can’t say it looked any different than other full moons but it certainly was symbolic of my time here.

Some Soldiers put together a really nice party to ring in the New Year. They used a crane to hoist a lighted Red Bull to use as the “ball” that drops at midnight. In the MWR tent, various tournaments were going on such as; cribbage, black jack and Texas Hold Em. I didn’t stick around…something about getting up at 0530 in the morning didn’t appeal to staying up late. The best part of this day…I’ll be home in 2010!


Lunar Halo. This is a picture from the internet since my camera was at the office but this is exactly the way it appeared!


New Year's Eve 2009 Blue Moon!

































The Red Bull hanging from a crane.

The Ditches and the Mud

When I think of Minnesota and of the many lakes it has, I am amazed at what rain can do to this area of the world. COB Basra is a network of ditches which throughout the summer months were dry as could be. Ever since the rain came, the ditches are a cesspool of bad smelling water and God knows what. I’m thinking about my ECO job when I had to inspect the ditch.

With the rain came a couple stories. I don’t have firsthand experience seeing these events but I thought they were too good to pass up:

Soldiers will sometimes do the most interesting things to keep themselves entertained. Case in point, Specialist Shane Gunlock was challenged by another Soldier on Christmas day to jump across one of the ditches. This particular ditch was approximately 2 feet deep and 5-6 feet wide. Specialist Gunlock had to take a running start but he made it across. Now you would think if you were lucky enough to make it the first time, why try again? Not the case with Gunlock, he went for the jump again and hit the edge of the ditch. The ground wasn’t solid and he slipped into the nasty water. Nice Christmas present!

Our platoon leaders witnessed an Iraqi guy squatting down by the water, cupping his hand and drinking the water from the ditch. Now for the best part….another Iraqi guy was just down from him bathing with bottled water. Go figure!

With the rain also comes the mud. Our command was extremely diligent about bringing in gravel before the rain came, but there are still spots where the mud is easily accessible. My roommate got back from an errand and her running shoes were totally covered in mud. I just had to laugh especially since it happened to me about a week prior. I decided to cut though an area I usually don’t walk in at night, it was poorly lit and my boot sunk right into the mud almost to my ankle. Nice.

For me, the worse part of the rain is the mud in the showers. Most of the females wear their flip flops to the shower trailer and wear the same shoes in the shower so all that mud gets deposited inside the shower. It wouldn’t be so bad if they’d rinse the shower when they were done but it’s not uncommon to see muddy shower stalls. This goes along with the hair they don’t clean out of the drain or around the sinks or the used paper towels they leave on the counter. I can’t wait to get back to my own bathroom! Just to shower with as much hot water as I want and no flip flops will be a treat!


One of the many ditches!



My Roommate's shoes!


My Roommate!

Santa Visits Basra, Iraq!

Christmas in Iraq…as one friend emailed me; I will probably never be closer to the birth place of Christ. It’s interesting to reflect on that aspect, however, I hope this is the last time I ever spend any time in Iraq. I guess, only time will tell.

I have been looking forward to this holiday since Thanksgiving made November fly by. Unfortunately, this has not been the case this week. Time came to a screeching halt and I felt like I might as well be watching paint dry. As everyone was preparing for the big snowstorm at home, we were enjoying 60+ degree weather. There are some good things about Iraq. Only a few.

I figured the busier I made myself the easier it would be to not miss my family and friends at home. So with that, I decided to host a Christmas party with the help of Sergeant Groeneweg and Santa. After going to Christmas service in our new Chapel, I got busy preparing for the party. Thanks to family and friends, I had enough cookies to feed an Army – literally! Lots of great cookie choices and the most symbolic were the Red Bull cookies made by our friend, Scott.

We held our Christmas Friday at 5 and my roommate even made an appearance. She wore the princess crown, well! One of our Chaplains, who regularly attends, commented that this was his last Friday at 5 since he is leaving on ADVON; lucky guy to be leaving this place so early.

The Christmas party kicked off at 7pm and between socializing, a visit from Santa, Karaoke Christmas songs and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, the night flew by and ended with me falling asleep during the movie. I know, for those of you that have socialized with me in my home, you find this hard to believe! But, I have to plead my case; I was visiting with our night crew the previous evening and was running on only 4 hours of sleep.

One of the typically questions asked of each other is; “Is this your first Christmas away from home?” For some Soldiers, they have spent quite a few Christmases away from home. For me the answer is; yes. Even though I was glad I had my military family to celebrate this holiday, I longingly wished I was at home with my family.

Merry Christmas to my family and friends back home! Soon, very soon, I’ll be seeing you in 2010!



Chaplain Lotzer at the new Red Bull Chapel!


The 34th ID Band


Chaplains Lotzer, Bheling and Rittmaster and SGT G!


Inside the new chapel


The Christmas tree that Hubby and Lyndsey sent to me!


Our office Christmas tree with our stockings!



Christmas Friday at 5!


Roomie, Chaplain Lotzer and Sergeant First Class Jacobs


Desserts


More Desserts!


Red Bull Cookies


Chaplain Lotzer and Sergeant Thorson


Roomie, Santa, the elf (Staff Sergeant Cornwell) and I!



Captain Markgraf!


Major Riha!


Lieutenant Oman!



Chief Jensen!


Staff Sergeant Wilder and Santa!


My Christmas socks!



BC and I singing Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer!



Lieutenant Dietrich and I


BC and Lieutenant Colonel Kintop

Serving Our Troops

Where does one go for a great steak dinner? Basra, Iraq, of course! Or at least last night! Serving Our Troops hit the COB and with them they brought St Paul Business owners, GB Leighton and over 4000 steaks to serve the Minnesota Soldiers and other service members stationed here.

Not only were they serving us here in Iraq but they had the same meal in St Paul for all the families of deployed Soldiers and at Camp Buehring, Kuwait where more Minnesota Soldiers are stationed. What a treat for us! They even grilled them to perfection, not like the steaks the DFAC normally serves; very well done!

I met GB Leighton in person and he obliged my request of an autograph not only for me but my good friend and neighbor, Carla. Carlie: I’m looking forward to us going and seeing him when I get back!

Inside the DFAC, the public affairs office had a live video feed of the event going on back in St Paul with all of the families. I was even able to see my family over the video. Brian, Lyndsey, Dad and Mary Lou attended the event and just as I knew they would, had a really good time.

This past week was a flurry of packing activity. All that “stuff” I received back at Fort Lewis, which has claimed space under my bed, was repacked, inventoried and placed in the CONEX for the slow boat going home. It’s surreal to think we will be leaving here in a few short weeks. At times it seems like we have been here FOREVER and other times not that long. It really depends on the day or week which perception is the reality. Packing up has really been the highlight and lifted my spirits.

Something else that really lifted my spirits this week was decorating the office. When we decorate at home, there has always been quite a bit a discussion surrounding the Christmas tree. Brian and Lyndsey like the trees which are so full you can hardly hang the ornaments and I like the Charlie Brown trees. That way, you can see all the ornaments. Once we get the tree in position, Brian kicks back with a coffee and Baileys while Lyndsey and I decorate the tree. On our tree, we have very few matching ornaments as I like individual ornaments. I quiz Lyndsey on who gave us what ornaments and the stories about them if there is one.

One of our favorite ornaments is of a clown, playing a violin, who is only about an inch tall. Ever since Lyndsey was little, we take turns hiding the clown and then trying to find him. One year I almost lost him since we were taking down the decorations and the tree got tossed outside. Luckily, he wasn’t lost and saved before the tree was taken away!

Well, our tree in Iraq is about 2 ½ feet tall and as fake as they get but we had some handmade ornaments and even an angel for the top. Mom sent me a beautiful stocking and mittens…not sure what I’m going to use the mittens for here in Iraq but they sure are nice. We hung our stockings by our tree and have Christmas lights hanging around the room.

What a great week in Basra, Iraq!



St Paul business owners cooking our steaks to perfection!




In this picture I look like a giant! My roommate (2nd from the left) is the same height as me. I think she was squatting down in the picture.


Me and GB Leighton!


The stocking and mittens that Mom sent me.

Another Run

Most of my family knows this but I've thrown in the towel on running. I'm absolutely tired of running and I figure I can finish running my 1000 miles on the next deployment...did I write that...

Anyways, I did do this 5k fun run with my running partner, Coach. He claims he beat me by a second but what he didn't realize is I let him!

My time: 23:45
Coach's time: 23:44

Funny, since I haven't been running as much, I dropped over 15 seconds off. Go figure.




Chief Jensen and I




With my running partner, Coach!


I loved this picture of Chaplain Rittmaster. Now I have to figure out how to get rid of the antenna on his head. It reminds me of a wedding picture where the cross is coming out of Bri's head.


Chaplain Rittmaster and Sergeant G


My roommate winning 3rd place!



Sergeant Anna Gillen from our company coming in 1st place with a time under 20 mins!