OH! Merry Christmas!

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday!

Love,

Erin

Best surprise ever!!

So… I just spent the last three days traveling from Iraq.  What a pain!!  But it was totally worth it. 

I don’t usually pull off secrets and surprises well… but this time I did!  I didn’t go to Spain for my R&R… instead I surprised my family on Christmas Eve.  It was perfect.  Except, sorry, no video or pics… 

My flight got in at about 3 pm yesterday.  I had rented a car so I didn’t have to worry about anyone picking me up (it’s a nice car, Grand Prix, btw).  My brother-in-law was in on the surprise, so I knew where my family would be, which was just about 30 min from the airport at his house.  He had texted me that they were getting antsy to open presents since the weather was supposed to turn bad, but he was able to hold them off… for the most part.  I showed up around 4 pm… after picking up my bags, the car, and running into some family friends at the airport (they were just as surprised to see me as I was to see them). 

I got the house, and my bro-in-law opened the door… everybody was downstairs around the tree… so we snuck down, he announced that he had one more Christmas present for them and I came around the corner!  My mom (so cute) yells, already crying, “I knew it!”.  It took my Dad a second to comprehend, but all he could say was “Oh my!”.  My oldest niece ran up and grabbed my leg (since my mom had the rest of me) and she wouldn’t let go. 

It was such a nice welcome and worked out just as I had planned.  I was really afraid that weather was going to be an issue, or that I would get stuck in Kuwait or Germany or Atlanta.  But, alas, I made it home. 

Just so you know, I was going to go to Spain. But when no one could go with me because of money or time, and my friends kept wondering why can’t I just come home, I thought it would be nice to see everyone and spend Christmas at home.  I am of a small percentage of soldiers of this year that got to come home for the holidays, by pure luck on my part. 

I will still go to Spain, probably next year some time, and Swanny said she would come with!!  So I’m not really missing out… just changing the order of things. 

Already though, in the less than 24 hours I’ve been home, I’ve driven in a snow storm and cleaned off my (rental) car.  I should have taken pics (again), but I’m still pretty jet-lagged and not thinking straight yet…  I’ll get lots of pics up soon to show you all!

Back to Tikrit

So I’m back in Tikrit for a few days before I go on leave… it’s nice being back and being around all my stuff, even though I’m packing it all up.

I was only supposed to go up to Mosul for three weeks… I was there for over two months… and I’ll be going back there for the rest of the deployment when I get back from leave.  It’s a good thing, and a sad thing because I’ll miss everyone here, especially Swan…

And I hate packing… it’s annoying, trying to fit everything into a few boxes.

Too much to pack....

Swan had kept everything pretty neat in our room, she even left me a little present!

Happy little cheese hat!

And speaking of leave… I am very excited!!  There is going to be soo much to do and see.  I’ll make sure I post pics for everyone as soon as I can!!  WOOOHOOO!!

Truck washer

We’ve been pretty busy lately, but yesterday I finally got a chance to do something I’ve been trying to do for awhile. Our truck has been out-of-service for a few weeks, but yesterday the maintenance guys wanted us to wash it before they did any more work.  So Jess & I took it to the nearby wash rack… we had some issues with the power washer not working at first, but in the end most of the dirt was off the truck and on me!  I wish I had before pics!

I didn't know the bumper was black...

Erin-of-the-Army

Even though I technically only have one job in the Army, I’ve essentially held two (very different) positions during my time in-country.

When I went through training, after learning the various aspects of my job, I never thought I would be a “team” (the tactical teams) person.  I knew I was bit more nerdy than most and felt that I would fit best where I could mostly read & write about stuff.  I knew that it would be less “glorified”, but probably more “dignified”, and, in my own opinion, I’m not much of a tactical soldier. :\

The job of my team down at Tikrit is basically R&D.  And I mostly do research, so definitely a good fit for me… plus, as the junior enlisted person, I get all the other stuff too.  Some is fun, but the other stuff is just that: stuff.  I love the research part.  My civilian job consists of a lot of research and staying up on trends and technology.  In my Army job, I have to stay up on different kinds of trends and put all the pieces together (remember how I really like puzzles).

In Mosul, I still do a lot of research, and a lot of the other stuff, too, but the research is sometimes different.  My team here is the “boots on ground” part of my job.  It’s tactical, and pretty much all the people we work with are “guy’s guys”. But we specialize.  We still follow trends, but the pieces are slightly smaller, and, to be honest, more fun to put together.  The best part… because of who I am (specifically, a girl), I literally enter “no man’s land”.  It’s not easy, and getting good information means asking the right questions (and a good translation), but it’s rewarding.  I immediately see the responses on women’s’ faces; the hope, the questioning, the gratefulness for listening.

I was pretty nervous when I got to Mosul.  I didn’t know what to expect, and I really missed my team down south (still do).  But I’ve really come to like my new team and the new post (though I really miss all my stuff right now ).  And I’ve learned a lot about my job and myself while I’ve been up here.  It’s hard to take yourself out of what you thought you knew and wanted, but when you find yourself in a better position because of it, despite the hardships, you can rest assured that you are going in the right direction.

I am thankful for…

Ok… so I know I’m a few days late for the Thanksgiving boat, but I might as well post anyway!

The dining facility here in Mosul had quite the spread for our Thanksgiving Dinner.  There were, like, six different kinds of meat, and probably 20 sides to choose from, as well as hors d’oeuvres and seasonal desserts.  I don’t like pumpkin pie, so I didn’t have any, but I did have cookies ‘n cream ice cream (it happens all the time actually).  And there was sparkling grape juice, too!  Made it seem a bit more festive, I guess.  It all made me thankful for my taste buds!

Everyone from my detachment that lives in Mosul got together for lunch, and since I am the lowest member of the team, I had to say grace.  I chose a classic Norwegian table prayer that my family always says for holidays and gatherings.  Made it feel a bit more comfortable and “right” for me, so that was nice!  And it made me thankful that I have a great family to be able to share such moments with.

I’m also thankful for:

• the chance to see other parts of the world and help the people in them.
• my team here in Mosul.
• my “home” team back in Tikrit.
• my roommates both here and in Tikrit, who have made all the difference.
• my family and friends for their love and support.
• cheap “haji” movies to keep me entertained.
• online stores so I didn’t have to feel left out of “Black Friday”.
• willpower to be able to not spend any money on “Black Friday”.
• the Army for doing my laundry for me.
• all the people who have sent me care packages over the last four months.
• my wonderful humor (that’s just obvious).
• magazines for inserting samples of fragrances so I can still feel like a girl.
• my iPod.
• being a girl because it helps to get things done.
• my faith.

Of course, that’s not everything, but it’s a pretty decent start…

 

Truckwrecker…

I killed the Humvee…

And now they call me the truckwrecker.

And I am sad.

We were driving to chow tonight after we picked up my NCO.  There haven’t been any major problems with the truck recently, and we even just had it in for it’s weekly checkup a few days ago.

But all of a sudden as I hit the gas to start going uphill, we all heard a big “thu-thunk” and the truck slowed to a stop.  I tried switching gears and nothing.  I put it in park and that did not make it happy.  ”Cha-rank” was the sound it made that time.

The transmission had dropped… no longer worked.  My truck no longer worked.

The FOB police, Force Protection, pulled up, since we were blocking a main road.  They towed us back to park the truck.  All the way back, it sounded as if a part of the truck was either hitting the ground or hitting itself.  It was horrible!!

So, for now, I am truckless.  And I am a truckwrecker (even though it wasn’t my fault).

Cute stuff!

 

So I’ve gotten a few cute things over the last few weeks…

One was a little “grow-a-head” man… sort of like a chia pet… well, he’s got hair now… and I had to give him a hair cute this afternoon.

 

He got a flat top!

Since the season is quickly approaching, I also got a little Christmas tree in one package I received.

The bows & ornament came from something that we got from my team chief’s wife.  She sent stuff to all of the teams up here.  My roomie and I got some girly stuff, especially for us!!  Bath & Body Works lotion with soft socks to take care of our feet…

 

My feet look like candy canes!!

 

And this came with our socks and was just cute!

 

 

Christmas in Kuwait!??

Wow.  Today was a bit of a rollercoaster…

I woke up in a great mood and had a great workout!

I got into the office and was told that my leave would essentially leave me in Kuwait on Christmas Day.  I would so much rather be anywhere else!!  I was fretting about it all day, just ask anyone who talked to me!

It was actually a busy day with getting trucks checked out and having the motor pool guys get in trouble for helping out the two females.  Oh that’s always good… because I am doing my job and getting my vehicles worked on properly, it’s not my fault if the guys want to help me and my roommate more than do anything else.  Technically, they were supposed to help us… but I guess it was the “puppy dog” devotion they were giving us that upset some of the others.  Look, I don’t go to the motor pool to get attention.  In fact, I usually avoid it… but I do need to get my trucks checked out on a regular basis.  That’s the nature of my job right now.  So even though I’m doing my job, I’m not the one who should be told to stay out of the motor pool.  Maybe you should teach your guys to stay professional and treat everyone with the same courtesies.  That said, it was still a fun and entertaining afternoon!

That did help take my mind off the leave thing… for awhile.  I had been told a few months ago that I could get it moved up a few days so that I wasn’t stuck in Kuwait and would instead be at a hotel in Spain with my friends.  But today that all seemed forgotten.  There were plenty of ideas floating around; stay up north and leave a few days earlier, but it would be much harder to pack and stuff would have to be sent up to me and it would just be annoying; or just leave all my stuff; or go back down South now (even though my work here isn’t done).  Either way, I wasn’t happy…

But then tonight, after dinner, I found out that I do get to leave a few days earlier.  And, God willing, I won’t have to spend Christmas in Kuwait!

Stupid boys…

UGH!  It is hard enough being a female in the Army, but the guys really don’t make it any easier.

I just about killed a male soldier the other day.  I was doing combatives with my roommate (female obviously) and our two NCOICs (both male).  We’ve been practicing them a lot recently, and each time we sort of draw a crowd.  Really, it’s Jess and I drawing the crowd, which kind of creeps me out.  The other day, Jess was sparring with one of our NCOs when a kid who was watching in the doorway said “I’d pay to see that in the states.”  I just about walked out after him and gave him a piece of my mind…

Seriously, it’s one thing to stand around and stare at two girls fighting.  As a girl, I still don’t get the appeal, but apparently guys think it’s hot.  But to actually say something out-loud, and withing ear shot of us is just plain rude.   It is hard enough being a female in the military, but guys like that just make it harder.  On all of us.