Happy Fathers Day!

Hello again and Happy Fathers Day to all of the fathers out there.

This week has been a slow one because we are so close to the end of the deployment. People start thinking of home and doing things with their family and friends and I'm no exception. I am looking forward to my party that will be on the 16th of August and hanging with all of my family and friends. Sarah is putting a lot of hard work into setting it all up and having the house ready for everyone. Sarah and I talk all of the time about what I want to do when I get home and I tell her that I am looking forward to just being with her and having a steak on the grill. That's my idea of a good time. I just can't wait to be home.

I have also been helping Sarah pick out our new car this week. This will be Sarah's car to drive to and from to work and shopping (She does love shopping, as do I). She has cut the field down to about 4 choices and now we debate about the different features and gas mileage that each one gets. She is looking at a Corolla, Rouge, Accord, and an Altima. All of them good choices so she can't go wrong with any of them. I have my poll to the right for your input on these 4 choices to help her along. She is planning on doing some more test driving when she goes up to the cabin next week in Brainerd so the sooner you vote, the sooner she will get the input from you.

That's it for this week. I do want to say a special Happy Fathers Day to my Dad. I hope that your day was a good one and I can't wait to golf with you when I get home. I love you Dad. Take care everyone and I'll see you in the funny pages.

Dan

Just Another Week In The Big Cat Box

Hello all and welcome back.

This week has been very hot and sandy here in Iraq (Like you didn't know where I have been). The only good part is that I am on night shift, and it is much cooler here at night. It has been around 110 to 115 everyday this week and we have had sand storms 5 of the days. I think I have half of the desert in my lungs......COUGH, COUGH!! One nice thing is that one more week has gone by and only 5 left till I am on my way home. It is so exciting to be thinking about all of the things that Sarah and I will be doing when I get home like........working on finishing my basement, getting Sarah's new car, and going to Vegas to celerbrate our 12th anniversary. It is so close I can almost taste the ice cold beer right now.....mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

As far as anything else interesting, there isn't much. I do want to say a hardy HOOWAH to my wife's cousin serving in Korea right now. He has been there 2 months now and has 10 more to go. I am so proud of him for making this life decision and serving our country in this time of need. I hope he doesn't have to come here where I am but, if he does I know he will have the support of all of you just like I have had for the past year. Matt.........I am very proud to call you my brother-in-arms.

That's it for now. Thank you for stopping by and sitting a spell. I look forward to talking to you all again real soon.

Dan

It's June Already??

Hello all and welcome back.

WOW!!! What a week. I have been so busy at work that the week just flew by. I had an extra duty of watching the MWR phone center, work in general, and getting ready to move into a new room tomorrow. Thats right, I said move to a new room. It means that we are one step closer to coming home. We have to clear our rooms so that when the new group gets here, they have the same place to stay. It's a pain in the butt, but I have no problem doing it. I am getting so excited to be one more step closer to home.

Durring my time at the phone center I was able to chat with Sarah for a long time and get some plans together for my return. After I get back from school, I have set up a crew to complete the basement of our house. I am so excited to finally get it done and I know that Sarah feels the same way. (Although I've given her a lot of tasks to do and I'm not sure she's so excited about that part.) I also have a friend that does landscaping and he is going to help to get the yard into great shape. Because I dont have to be back to work right away, this is the perfict time to get it all done. I can't wait!!!!

Sorry so short this week. I'll make it up to you all next week when I get settled into my new room. Take care and I will talk to you all later.

Dan

Happy Memorial Day

Hello everyone, and Happy Memorial Day.

Today is a time to reflect and think about all of the men and women that have served and given their lives for our country. When I was younger, I just looked at it as another day off from school, or an excuse to go to the lake, but it is much more than that. Being in the military and now having my experiences here in Iraq, this day means so much more to me. I see kids around base everyday that work outside the wire and brave the real war and I shake their hand and thank them for what they are doing. I have seen the medical helicopters flying over to the hospital and you know that only means one thing. You see, Memorial Day is more than a federal holiday, it is a day we thank the men and women of our military past, present, and futures for keeping us safe and keeping our country free. I salute all who have came before me and all that will follow me. Thank You!!!

Now on to my week.

Our Battalion held a luau on Friday in honor of Pan-Asian American Month. As you might know, we are a combined Battalion from Minnesota, Washington, and Hawaii. All of our Hawaiians participated and ran the whole show. There was a roast pig, burgers, hot dogs, chicken, coconut wiped pudding, and other Hawaiian foods for our dinning pleasure. There was also 2 bands that played during the event. One was a Hawaiian band playing softer music and Hawaiian music to put us in the tropical mood. The other was a rock cover band that sounded good and played a lot of classic rock (which i find out includes Guns 'n Roses and Nirvana......UGGG) and a couple of their own tunes. The whole day was wonderful!! I swam and jumped off the high dive, played water volleyball and catch with a football. For the afternoon we all forgot about the outside world and just enjoyed the tropical atmosphere (it was 110 out.....HOT!)

Well, that will do it for now. I may be losing my internet here next week so I may not be able to update on Monday. I will try to find a computer somewhere to be able to upload my pictures or it just might be a text version......we will see. Take care everyone and I'll talk to you later.

If you want to learn more about the history of Memorial Day, visit http://www.usmemorialday.org/.

Dan

One Week Closer

Hello Everyone

It's another week closer to going home and I'm starting to get ready for it. I started to sell my stuff and send some stuff home. You don't know how much crap you collect till you have to move. I am finding food and snacks everywhere like we are going to lose our chow hall and not have any food to live on. I have brought 4 bags of food and snacks back to the hanger to share with everyone there. That way it doesn't get wasted and if I still want some of it I know where it is. I also have found a pound of dust and sand on things that we haven't moved all year.....GROSS!!! I can't wait to get home and just have normal dust to deal with.

It is nice to start thinking about home but we still have a job here to do. The picture above is of a sunrise a couple of days ago between sand storms. I was able to get a jet taking off in the picture on the left side. We have had so many sand storms over the past 2 weeks it was nice to get a break for a little bit so we didn't have to breath sand. Other than the sand, not much else has happened since my birthday. Oh, I almost forgot......I did cook out on Friday night with a few people. We hung out and had some burgers and chicken on the grill. It’s just a little taste of home that we can have here. I do love a good cook out.

Just to let you all know, if you plan on sending anything here be sure to do it before June 15th or else it might not get here. I have loved getting all of the care packages and letters from all of you. Now after I go home be sure to find another soldier that will enjoy a care package while they are here. A great website is http://www.anysoldier.com/ to find some soldiers that want some pen pals.

Take care all and have a wonderful week and I'll talk to you later

Dan

Today Is My Birthday........36 And Still Going!!!

Hello all and welcome back.

If you didn't already know, today is my birthday. The big 36!! Just means that I'm one day closer to being home and one year older. I have received some great packages for my birthday so far. The latest one was from my wife’s office team at Cargill Treasury. I am wearing some of the items in the picture above. It also has some super balls in it (That we have lost in the hanger already) and a ton if treats and party favors (Thanks for test driving the nut rolls for me Norma and making sure they were safe for consumption). I do love celebrating my birthday and I wish I was back at home doing it right. Cake, candles, and my wife standing there......looking at me and saying those three little words..........YOU ARE OLD.

I also want to say Happy Mother’s Day to all of the moms out there reading this. The thing with my birthday being on May 12th is that it falls on mother’s day about every 7 years. When I was younger, my Mom and I would celebrate both of our birthdays and mother’s day together. She got it good because she would get 2 gifts compared to my one. As I got older I would just give her one gift and say it was for both days, kinda like what happens to Christmas babies. You see, today is my birthday and my Mom's would have been tomorrow. She would have turned 72 this year if she was still with us. Happy Mother’s Day and Happy Birthday Mom, I love and miss you.

Now I’m getting all emotional, time to liven up this BLOG.

It has been a very busy week for me here. I was able to fly 6.5 hours this week in one of the helicopters I was working on. I do have to say, that I like flying around and seeing around the base. We do test patterns in circles around the base, so I took lots of pictures to show people where I have been living the past year from an birds eye point of view. Also I have been making plans on coming home in July. I started selling my stuff here so it doesn’t wait till the last minute and also sending home stuff so I don’t have to carry it all when we leave here. The days are going by faster because I have been busy so July will be here before we know it. What will all of you do without my BLOG every week? I know, you could call me at home and we could have dinner or something and I can tell you how my week was then, or something like that. We will have to cross that bridge when I get home. Till then, continue to visit my BLOG and I thank you for your continued support of me and my fellow soldiers here with me.

It's poker night also tonight. We are celebrating my friend’s birthday and mine tonight and we are going to take pictures and I will be sure to post them when we are done. His birthday was last Monday and he is 2 years older......hehehe....HE IS OLD!!!

So long for now and have a good week. I will talk to you all next week.

Dan

Up, Up And Away

Happy Cinco De Mayo Everyone,

Now everyone go and crack open a crevesa, put a lime in it and sit down to enjoy this little posting I do every week. On a day like today I do miss going to the parade in St Paul and hanging out with Rory and Peggy. Hitting the beer gardens and watching the live music was oh so fun. Instead, some people here are having a cookout down at the hanger and drinking fake beer. I just can't do it to myself on such a great drinking holiday that I have adopted. Plus it is poker night and that takes precedence. For everyone else I hope you can go out tonight and have a Corona for me and don’t forget the lime......Cheers!!

This week was a busy one for me at work. There is this problem child aircraft that has the oddest issues and I was assigned to help figure it out. Well, with all of the things we did to it, it needed a test flight and I got to go on it. It was my first flight since I have been here. Besides trying to listen for any problems or helping in the discussions, I took a ton of pictures. It was cool to see where I have been living all of these months from the air. On the maintenance side, the problem wasn't fixed but we knew which direction to go and on the next flight it was fixed. I do like troubleshooting the aircraft because you have to think outside the box to come up with a solution that fixes it that the manuals don't talk about. It sure did make this week fly by.

Now, I know I have told all of you that my 36th birthday is a week from today........and you know that I don’t expect anything for my birthday........But just to let you know, I do like receiving boxes and cards:) Not that you have to send anything other than your support and pledge to have a crevesa with me upon my return home. Take care everyone and I'll see ya next week (May 12th......My Birthday.........36 years old......hint, hint).

Dan